tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-125348742016-06-30T09:27:08.942-07:00Magazine Smiles"Heading out to somewhere, won't be back for a while."Irenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03163803961338323135noreply@blogger.comBlogger1076125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12534874.post-73948823796590303762015-03-27T13:05:00.002-07:002015-03-27T13:05:22.395-07:00Earned It<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tm8JcqDuOfg/VRW3sV5TtJI/AAAAAAAAEhM/nJOJLpURYvc/s1600/medals.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tm8JcqDuOfg/VRW3sV5TtJI/AAAAAAAAEhM/nJOJLpURYvc/s1600/medals.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>PeaceIrenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03163803961338323135noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12534874.post-52094245437152036012013-10-25T21:10:00.000-07:002013-10-26T10:57:39.705-07:00On Top of the World<b>The Nike Women's Half Marathon San Francisco - or how I rekindled the joy of running... again.</b><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rQcG7g-NQlg/Ums8iYfVhZI/AAAAAAAAEeM/IcaXnDe0WZY/s1600/nike2013weran.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rQcG7g-NQlg/Ums8iYfVhZI/AAAAAAAAEeM/IcaXnDe0WZY/s320/nike2013weran.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />I have been plagued with tendinitis in my left foot this summer. This case of tendinitis was not caused by running,&nbsp; but by wearing the wrong shoes to work.&nbsp; No, I didn't wear heels, in fact it was a flatter wedge, probably too flat and not enough arch support or stability.&nbsp; Wearing those wedges for one 8 hour work day has given me a summer of slow running and a lot of walking the dog.&nbsp; Knowing that I needed to keep training for my fall and winter races kept me going.&nbsp; Between the SDTC and Rehab United, I always had someplace to run and someone to run with.&nbsp; I ran up and down the hill at Torrey Pines State Beach,&nbsp; local runners know the one,&nbsp; plus the hills in Del Mar and in my own neighborhood, which made all the difference come race day.&nbsp; <br /><br />Hubs and I flew up to San Francisco the Friday before the race only to find that BART was on strike and we had to figure out how to get into the city from the Oakland Airport.&nbsp; Luckily for us, someone was looking for people to share the expense of a shuttle van.&nbsp; We ended up sharing the van with six other random people with the same predicament.&nbsp;&nbsp; We all made it to San Francisco with no issues, and the weather was gorgeous.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-texzAawUzl8/Umsb9-46LqI/AAAAAAAAEbA/bj04xFAHI_4/s1600/oakland+bridge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-texzAawUzl8/Umsb9-46LqI/AAAAAAAAEbA/bj04xFAHI_4/s320/oakland+bridge.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From the van going over the Oakland Bridge to San Francisco.</td></tr></tbody></table>Once we were in the city, and settled in our hotel room, Hubs and I met Norma, a track club friend, and her husband to retrieve our race numbers and swag.&nbsp; We spent some time roaming around the expo at Union Square and did a little shopping over at Nike Town.<br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qsPQPkLMUAg/UmsdtYHTUAI/AAAAAAAAEbc/6sY_2n6FZuY/s1600/SAM_1864.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qsPQPkLMUAg/UmsdtYHTUAI/AAAAAAAAEbc/6sY_2n6FZuY/s640/SAM_1864.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Normal and I - Photo op at Union Square</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sy0Bob6LskU/UmsdYNtQZ_I/AAAAAAAAEbU/e-yfgry2aGQ/s1600/SAM_1862.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sy0Bob6LskU/UmsdYNtQZ_I/AAAAAAAAEbU/e-yfgry2aGQ/s400/SAM_1862.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The race course over at Nike Town --Pointing at the finish.</td></tr></tbody></table>We even found our names on the wall.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UML3o7Jw3xM/Umsc-OJiuxI/AAAAAAAAEbM/CcViTYQ8A9E/s1600/SAM_1861.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="476" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UML3o7Jw3xM/Umsc-OJiuxI/AAAAAAAAEbM/CcViTYQ8A9E/s640/SAM_1861.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'm right there!</td></tr></tbody></table>Hubs was hungry and wanted to eat.&nbsp; We ended up at an Irish pub, and I can't remember the name of it.&nbsp; It was OK, but my Hubs was really hungry...<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qV8AjakwKVk/UmseqqLnBGI/AAAAAAAAEbo/4xyeEUqf4zI/s1600/The+husbands.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qV8AjakwKVk/UmseqqLnBGI/AAAAAAAAEbo/4xyeEUqf4zI/s400/The+husbands.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The husbands.&nbsp; They look so excited to be at a women's event.&nbsp; LOL. </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>Later on that same evening, we met Norma and husband and walked over to Chinatown for dinner.&nbsp; Norma Yelped a restaurant based on the number of stars it had.&nbsp; We came upon a very unassuming doorway with a stair case.&nbsp; At the top of the stairs we peeked in and the "hole in the wall" room was packed, and the aroma of Chinese food was amazing.&nbsp; Even though there was a wait, we stayed.&nbsp; The food really was amazing.&nbsp; Good choice.&nbsp; I thought we had photos, but I guess we were all too hungry to snap any pics of the place or the food.<br /><br />The next morning hubs and I ate the complimentary breakfast at our hotel, then decided to walk around the Union Square area.&nbsp; We walked past the Expo area and ended up at the Bvlgari building.&nbsp; Hubs wanted to peek inside to look at the architecture, and he even told that to the sales person.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1Dh712cYqQA/Umsj9aaYvDI/AAAAAAAAEcA/MX0uD2c7MpM/s1600/SAM_1870.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1Dh712cYqQA/Umsj9aaYvDI/AAAAAAAAEcA/MX0uD2c7MpM/s400/SAM_1870.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">When you're married to an architect, you get used to photos like this... lots of photos like this.</td></tr></tbody></table>As we looked around, the sales person insisted that I try on some jewelry.&nbsp; I felt kind of weird at first, but it doesn't hurt to try on super expensive jewelry that costs more than any car I'll ever own.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MX8NJ_ebGyA/UmsiS3GsbNI/AAAAAAAAEb0/R6rbsnJLEDo/s1600/Bvlgari.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MX8NJ_ebGyA/UmsiS3GsbNI/AAAAAAAAEb0/R6rbsnJLEDo/s320/Bvlgari.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It goes with everything!</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>We did a little more realistic shopping at Old Navy -- that's more our speed, had a late Thai food lunch/dinner,&nbsp; picked up some coffee* and granola bars for the next morning, and went to chill at our hotel. It wasn't long after that when I checked my Facebook and had a message from an on line friend, <a href="http://diaryofanaspiringloser.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Michelle</a>.&nbsp; She was in a little bit of a panic because BART was on strike and not running, and BART being down caused a traffic nightmare for the locals.&nbsp; She was looking for some place in the city to crash.&nbsp; I offered our floor in our small hotel room, and she took the offer.<br /><br /><a href="http://diaryofanaspiringloser.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Michelle</a> and I know each other from an on line workout support group on&nbsp; Body for Life&nbsp; California, then another work out site Muscle Tank, our blogs, then Facebook.&nbsp; It's funny that we've never met in person until now.&nbsp; We live in the same state and I know we've been near by our cities several times, but never connected.&nbsp; It was as if we knew each other (in person) the whole time.&nbsp; <a href="http://diaryofanaspiringloser.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Michelle</a> camped out on our floor with her sleeping bag and gear, and we had a great time talking about all things running and fitness before attempting to doze off.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-J4kPKf-EtmE/UmYJldQWQ5I/AAAAAAAAQc4/zkc7Auj7G1I/s400/IMAG1408.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="243" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-J4kPKf-EtmE/UmYJldQWQ5I/AAAAAAAAQc4/zkc7Auj7G1I/s400/IMAG1408.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Michelle's accommodations for the night. Photo by Michelle.</td></tr></tbody></table>We woke up to the phone alarm at around 5:15 AM.&nbsp;&nbsp; Being three blocks from Union Square was such a bonus since the race started at 6:30.&nbsp; No getting up at 3:30AM to be out the door by 4 to beat the traffic at the starting area.&nbsp; No waiting in lines at the port-o-potties.&nbsp; It <i>almost </i>felt like sleeping in.&nbsp; Since Hubs was the designated Sherpa, there was no need to drop off our things at the bag check.&nbsp; We walked down to the Union Square area with plenty of time to absorb the vibe of the race, and plenty of time to get used to the temperatures.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pp7DLgGxQVY/UmsqIbn9eoI/AAAAAAAAEcY/3PqkNZH7mtM/s1600/Pre+race+selfie+NWHM2013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pp7DLgGxQVY/UmsqIbn9eoI/AAAAAAAAEcY/3PqkNZH7mtM/s320/Pre+race+selfie+NWHM2013.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cell phone "selfie."&nbsp; </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ER6Oa6_6Thw/UmspnfuBvHI/AAAAAAAAEcQ/B0HGgoI2IBw/s1600/SAM_1886.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ER6Oa6_6Thw/UmspnfuBvHI/AAAAAAAAEcQ/B0HGgoI2IBw/s400/SAM_1886.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I still look sleepy, but Michelle looks ready to go!</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-um4cCD7ejuc/UmsqraG-ThI/AAAAAAAAEcg/zEVltz_76Fc/s1600/SAM_1889.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-um4cCD7ejuc/UmsqraG-ThI/AAAAAAAAEcg/zEVltz_76Fc/s320/SAM_1889.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Almost ready to go - the white t shirt is off!</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nGQlIRVBets/UmsrFMqAhmI/AAAAAAAAEco/AiQPDcSFCxw/s1600/SAM_1892.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nGQlIRVBets/UmsrFMqAhmI/AAAAAAAAEco/AiQPDcSFCxw/s400/SAM_1892.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Making our way to the start!&nbsp; Look, it's the crack of dawn!</td></tr></tbody></table>Aaaaaand, we're off.&nbsp; Michelle immediately took off, and looked really good as she went ahead of me.&nbsp; She mentioned something about not really running for about 3 weeks, but I never would have known.&nbsp; This time there was virtually no weaving around walkers.&nbsp; I ran the entire race.&nbsp; Even though I slowed down on the hills, they weren't as intimidating as I&nbsp; remembered.&nbsp; I took advantage of the downhills and just let gravity do it's thing.&nbsp; The weather was perfect for running.&nbsp; The temperatures never went higher than 55 degrees, and it was foggy for most of the race.&nbsp; As the miles went by, I noted how good I felt, and by the time I hit mile 10, I was still feeling pretty good.&nbsp; Mile 10 is where I pretty much gave up when I ran it in 2011, and walk/ran the remaining 3 miles because I felt so crappy.&nbsp; I felt energetic for the entire race.&nbsp; Mile 10 came this time, and I still felt great.&nbsp; The last three miles went by easily.&nbsp; My ETA for this race was 2:40, only because of the tendinitis, but I guess all that hill training and walks with the dog did help.&nbsp; I finished in 2:27:56, and I was THRILLED with that.&nbsp; It's not my fastest half marathon by far, but it was 14 minutes faster than when I ran it in 2011.<br /><br />My cell phone refused to work properly after I finished, (iPhone -&nbsp; ever since the update I've had issues), so there's no photos with me and the cute firemen in tuxes giving out the Tiffany &amp; Co. blue boxes with white satin ribbons, with the necklace inside.&nbsp; <br /><br />The weather was fine for running, but after stopping and the sweat cooled my body, I was freezing.&nbsp; I did get a mylar blanket right away, but I was chilled.&nbsp; Hubs finally found me and I was able to put on a warm, long sleeved top.&nbsp; <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EuZl8l-PQus/UmsvicpHg5I/AAAAAAAAEc0/Yatq8sJYZhY/s1600/SAM_1900.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EuZl8l-PQus/UmsvicpHg5I/AAAAAAAAEc0/Yatq8sJYZhY/s400/SAM_1900.JPG" width="265" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not quite the post race pic I was hoping for, especially with those cute firemen, but I got my bling! I'm happy, freezing, but happy!</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>Hubs was trying to track down Michelle since he had her gear back containing her warm clothes.&nbsp; She ended up at one of the Nike concession tents and bought a warm long sleeved pull over t-shirt because she was so cold, but she was still happy to have even more layers once we found each other.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9RKh7IVmI1E/UmsxpYyPHFI/AAAAAAAAEdA/J84KVKQq0Vk/s1600/SAM_1903.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9RKh7IVmI1E/UmsxpYyPHFI/AAAAAAAAEdA/J84KVKQq0Vk/s320/SAM_1903.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />There was Sofia Champagne served in the post race area.&nbsp; It cost extra, but I really wanted some because it's one of the few bubbly wines that I can drink and not have issues.&nbsp; Champagne in little cans is actually pretty good.&nbsp; <br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5_9CmQfp6XA/Umsy13tbN_I/AAAAAAAAEdM/hBw1bDs-zPQ/s1600/SAM_1902.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5_9CmQfp6XA/Umsy13tbN_I/AAAAAAAAEdM/hBw1bDs-zPQ/s320/SAM_1902.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">FIt doesn't feel so cold after a little bubbly...&nbsp; Cheers.&nbsp;</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr></tbody></table>We spotted some SDTC peeps at the champagne area.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SdctB6T6-vU/Umszwcy_7gI/AAAAAAAAEdY/Hrfl2B0qCE4/s1600/SAM_1904.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SdctB6T6-vU/Umszwcy_7gI/AAAAAAAAEdY/Hrfl2B0qCE4/s320/SAM_1904.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Happy finishers!</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UfHVbs6qZNM/Umszwg2u7II/AAAAAAAAEdk/IFkgHfTI_UA/s1600/SAM_1910.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UfHVbs6qZNM/Umszwg2u7II/AAAAAAAAEdk/IFkgHfTI_UA/s320/SAM_1910.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This was the t-shirt they all wore...&nbsp; LOVED it!</td></tr></tbody></table>The finish area was not as roomy as it had been in the past because part of it is on federal property, which the race organizers could no longer use due to the government shut down.&nbsp; There were about 30,000+ people crammed in a small area.&nbsp; The line for the bus back to Union Square was a bit long, but it eventually moved.&nbsp; Waiting in line wasn't so bad, as we chatted with happy race finishers.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uRTVV8ZBx8s/Ums-edrGnAI/AAAAAAAAEeY/h3ChTKbnGF8/s1600/nike2013tiffanynecklace.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uRTVV8ZBx8s/Ums-edrGnAI/AAAAAAAAEeY/h3ChTKbnGF8/s320/nike2013tiffanynecklace.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Bling</td></tr></tbody></table>After a hot shower, some food, and a long nap, hubs and I went out on the town that evening.&nbsp; We went to dinner at John's Historic Grill for some awesome martini's and steak.&nbsp; It was a fabulous meal to end a very, very good day.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jHiMXmXIenM/Ums1mIdpL2I/AAAAAAAAEds/BDn99km-xPc/s1600/johns+historic+grill+san+francisco+2013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jHiMXmXIenM/Ums1mIdpL2I/AAAAAAAAEds/BDn99km-xPc/s320/johns+historic+grill+san+francisco+2013.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cheers.&nbsp; </td></tr></tbody></table>Because BART was still on strike, we had to find another way to the airport the next day. We couldn't find a shuttle that was going to Oakland's Airport. All the shuttles were going to San Francisco's Airport. We ended up with a "taxi" which ended up being a guy in a 3 piece suit driving a Lincoln Town Car. We felt special, but it wasn't exactly inexpensive either. We left super early to avoid any traffic, but there was none, and we arrived at the airport much quicker than anticipated.<br /><br />&nbsp;Are you still with me? I know this is a longish post, but I haven't posted anything since August. I have just a few more thoughts...<br /><br />I've learned that I need to stay away from drinking any alcoholic beverages at least 2 days before a race. I really don't drink a lot, but pre race rituals are important -- which includes not drinking, and I had a much better race this year. I saved the drinks for after the race, and those two drinks were so much more enjoyable.&nbsp; I've learned that no matter how slow I'm going, I'm still moving. As long as I keep up the training I will never become stagnant. I surprised myself buy doing better than I was anticipating.&nbsp; Never doubt your training.&nbsp; I've learned that after feeling lack luster and less than excited about running, that it will come back and have that "new" feeling again.&nbsp; It felt new at Nike this year, and I feel excited about running again. I've also learned that you can never have too many friends, even if they come from the "internet." I'm often asked if I get worried about meeting people I've only known from workout support sites or blogs. "What if they're creepy?" "How do you know?" I've never had a reason to worry. After a certain amount of time reading their posts you just know, you get certain vibe from a person. I've met several people from workout sites and blogs, and each time it has been great. I really enjoyed meeting with Michelle in person, and I hope we meet again in the near future.&nbsp; I also had fun spending time with Norma who we know from track club.&nbsp; It was nice to see a different side of her.&nbsp; Finally, I've learned that my Hubs made a pretty good Sherpa.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--yp0UzgLMSo/Ums5-L3zUqI/AAAAAAAAEeA/0D4rdFx6Pac/s1600/SAM_1916.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--yp0UzgLMSo/Ums5-L3zUqI/AAAAAAAAEeA/0D4rdFx6Pac/s320/SAM_1916.JPG" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">...and he still likes the window seat.</td></tr></tbody></table><b>Song from August Wednesday, August 14, 2013</b>:&nbsp; <br />Summer Breeze - Seals &amp; Croft <b>&nbsp;</b><br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #d9ead3;"><b>PEACE</b></span></span><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #d9ead3;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>*</b></span>Pre race ritual - Buy a handmade coffee per our specifications at Starbucks, then put in the fridge or set in an ice bucket for race day morning. &nbsp;</span></span><b> </b></span></span>Irenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03163803961338323135noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12534874.post-60279987344050510662013-08-14T11:33:00.004-07:002013-08-14T17:35:53.170-07:00Summer BreezeI feel like a kid starting back at school with the first day of school assignment" "What did you do over your summer vacation?" Aside from not blogging*, I've been doing a lot of the usual, such as going to work. My running has kind of taken a back seat to tendinitis in my left foot, but it's not that bad, and I'll get out and walk the dog for a mile or two at a time and try to put in some slower, longer runs during the weekends. The most I've run at any one time has been 8 miles. Instead of writing about my summer vacation, I'll just show a few photos instead.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XsfI0UWaCpw/UgvFFlqKiEI/AAAAAAAAEWg/8Y8dOZ0IfnY/s1600/S68312_s6ze0otbbc_115542410_4x6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XsfI0UWaCpw/UgvFFlqKiEI/AAAAAAAAEWg/8Y8dOZ0IfnY/s1600/S68312_s6ze0otbbc_115542410_4x6.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My most recent race picture... From June at the Rock 'n' Roll San Diego Half Marathon. &nbsp; </td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-go1H0QY-8cA/UgvDt4rDhpI/AAAAAAAAEV4/WOv8X_-h79A/s1600/IMG_1438.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-go1H0QY-8cA/UgvDt4rDhpI/AAAAAAAAEV4/WOv8X_-h79A/s320/IMG_1438.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">4th of July Weened - Hubs and I finally trekked to Los Angeles to hang out with my sister and her husband.&nbsp; My sister and I both needed some relaxation and found it at Malibu Winery. </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2q84wz7XvJY/UgvEUWcIUfI/AAAAAAAAEWQ/iZhtllC63yk/s1600/IMG_1349.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="69" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2q84wz7XvJY/UgvEUWcIUfI/AAAAAAAAEWQ/iZhtllC63yk/s320/IMG_1349.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Griffith Park Observatory</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-On2bJBkuvYE/UgvESvPtD8I/AAAAAAAAEWI/69RYEHtDKWQ/s1600/IMG_1341.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-On2bJBkuvYE/UgvESvPtD8I/AAAAAAAAEWI/69RYEHtDKWQ/s320/IMG_1341.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from a hike at Griffith Park trails.</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9W2Nx_CsYCE/UgvEBrNGbPI/AAAAAAAAEWA/aHQ7-BoZk_U/s1600/IMG_1498.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9W2Nx_CsYCE/UgvEBrNGbPI/AAAAAAAAEWA/aHQ7-BoZk_U/s320/IMG_1498.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I finally had my medal rack mounted and put up my race medals!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6tP0jT6Apj4/UgvEd2ipG_I/AAAAAAAAEWY/AaB7QTlR_ag/s1600/IMG_1507.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6tP0jT6Apj4/UgvEd2ipG_I/AAAAAAAAEWY/AaB7QTlR_ag/s320/IMG_1507.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From my backyard.&nbsp; Tomatoes and assorted greens were great this summer. </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-if6XGrtPRYE/UgvHYaZyFfI/AAAAAAAAEWs/BbkZYvIEVHE/s1600/Nike+2013.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="162" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-if6XGrtPRYE/UgvHYaZyFfI/AAAAAAAAEWs/BbkZYvIEVHE/s320/Nike+2013.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I was selected for the half marathon.&nbsp; This will be my third Nike event.</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-e6rzHB-Vlzk/UgvKursh0gI/AAAAAAAAEW8/3YX1iWsA_qs/s1600/Erik+and+Michael+8+20013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-e6rzHB-Vlzk/UgvKursh0gI/AAAAAAAAEW8/3YX1iWsA_qs/s320/Erik+and+Michael+8+20013.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We still have weekends with Evan.&nbsp; He's been joining us on some of the runs, but walking.&nbsp; He's a real trooper!</td></tr></tbody></table>Summer isn't officially over yet.&nbsp; There's still more beach time to be had and perhaps a concert or two... and maybe put in more time on my feet.<br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GNLrv39Xd3I/UgvL04UaqnI/AAAAAAAAEXM/0wZ5s-NxveU/s1600/IMG_1440.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GNLrv39Xd3I/UgvL04UaqnI/AAAAAAAAEXM/0wZ5s-NxveU/s320/IMG_1440.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cheers!</td></tr></tbody></table>Song from Wednesday, May 8, 2013:<br />Carry On&nbsp; - Crosby, Stills, Nash &amp; Young<br /><br /><span style="color: #f6b26b;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>PEACE</b></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">*I'm mostly on Facebook now.</span>Irenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03163803961338323135noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12534874.post-66486662302582188442013-05-08T19:41:00.000-07:002013-05-08T19:56:12.674-07:00Carry OnIn March I ran in three events.&nbsp; I ran the Sue Krenn 15k, the San Diego Half marathon and the Hot Chocolate 5k.&nbsp; I was feeling as if I was getting back to "normal" and hitting splits at the Sue Krennn 15K&nbsp; that I was more accustomed to, unlike how sloth-y I felt last year.&nbsp; I was feeling really good.&nbsp; I even clocked in a 2:14:51 for the San Diego half marathon, with in striking distance of some sort of PR, and my half marathon PR is 2:13:11 back in 2007, pre hip surgery. Then I ran the Hot Chocolate 5K/15K.&nbsp; It's the "fun run" where you get hot chocolate and other goodies at the end of the race, plus a really nice hoodie sweatshirt.&nbsp; I never&nbsp; checked out the course map until a couple of weeks before the event.&nbsp; There were hills on the map, but I live in San Diego.&nbsp; We're used to training on hills, really steep hills.&nbsp; I eat hills for breakfast, so what's another couple of hills on a "fun run" 5K course?&nbsp; After all, people who don't run and small children signed up for this Hot Chocolate Run.&nbsp; It sounds pretty harmless, right?&nbsp; I just thought the"fun run" 5K would be a nice little romp in between half marathons.&nbsp; The 5K kicked my butt and I haven't been the same since.&nbsp; It wasn't so much the going up hills, even though the non-runners and children had a very tough time with those, it was the steep down hills that did me in.&nbsp; My hips have been very tight ever since, and I've had to take a little time off and slow down.&nbsp; I've been attending the track on Tuesday nights for intervals, but I'm not able to speed things up when I need to.&nbsp; I haven't been running with Lexi, but I still take her on long trail walks, or at least get in a couple of miles walking her in the neighborhood.&nbsp; I still go to Rehab United once a week, and not really doing a work out, but getting worked on instead.<br /><br />My next half marathon in the San Diego Rock 'n' Roll half marathon in about three weeks.&nbsp; It's a new course, and I was hoping I would be able to PR there, but it looks like a PR will have to wait, and that's OK. There are a lot of fall half marathons, and I have time to build back up again.<br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-inDdb73V7cE/UYsDAz8X5XI/AAAAAAAAEUQ/C0bPbuwQe4A/s1600/IMG_1257.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-inDdb73V7cE/UYsDAz8X5XI/AAAAAAAAEUQ/C0bPbuwQe4A/s400/IMG_1257.JPG" width="298" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tecolote Trails with Lexi</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-r7OToI5AZnk/UYsDp6DmcdI/AAAAAAAAEUc/A8-F4FyHsic/s1600/2013-03-10+06.52.32.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-r7OToI5AZnk/UYsDp6DmcdI/AAAAAAAAEUc/A8-F4FyHsic/s400/2013-03-10+06.52.32.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pre race at the San Diego Half Marathon.&nbsp; Still my favorite race.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FehUT-W1VRQ/UYsDygx6wvI/AAAAAAAAEUk/0opn1IcwJnA/s1600/Hot+Chocolate+Run+2013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FehUT-W1VRQ/UYsDygx6wvI/AAAAAAAAEUk/0opn1IcwJnA/s400/Hot+Chocolate+Run+2013.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Post race Hot Chocolate 5K.&nbsp; Nice swag, but suck-y course.</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Finally,&nbsp; the running community was shaken to&nbsp; the core with the bombings at the Boston Marathon.<br />I won't go into what happened or analyze anything about it, since the news and other media has done that already.&nbsp; Even our coach <b><a href="http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1649263564001?bckey=AQ~~%2CAAAAA5PNMME~%2CK3tOT-PuafsBOFardsNAXlIchcEkjy_p&amp;bctid=2308034581001" target="_blank">Paul and a few track club members</a></b> were interviewed.&nbsp; Our track club members observed a moment of silence for those affected by the tragic events in Boston.<click a="" club="" gave="" link="" moment="" nbsp="" of="" our="" p="" s="" silence:="" their="" this="" thoughts.="" track="" tribute="" was=""><br /><br /></click><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3KTc54mzW_0/UYsD1iBw3FI/AAAAAAAAEUs/anrmAz6kN40/s1600/sdtc+tribute+to+Boston.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3KTc54mzW_0/UYsD1iBw3FI/AAAAAAAAEUs/anrmAz6kN40/s640/sdtc+tribute+to+Boston.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><b>Song from Saturday, March 2, 2013:</b><br />Rescue Me - Aretha Franklin<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>PEACE</b></span></span><br /><br /><br />Irenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03163803961338323135noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12534874.post-17032725046931255682013-03-02T13:07:00.001-08:002013-03-02T13:15:31.095-08:00Rescue Me&nbsp;Meet my new running partner:<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vHyJkBJ6dQA/UTJV_qIERFI/AAAAAAAAETc/aNLaCmgyd8k/s1600/007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vHyJkBJ6dQA/UTJV_qIERFI/AAAAAAAAETc/aNLaCmgyd8k/s640/007.JPG" width="392" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">LEXI</span></b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;">After a few inquiries to rescues and several internet searches for specific breeds (Labradors or German Shepherds),&nbsp; I stumbled upon<a href="http://petfinder.com/" target="_blank"> Pet Finder</a>, which directed me to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/waggingdogrescue" target="_blank">Wagging Dog Rescue</a> and several lovely professional photos of Lexi.&nbsp; I wasn't sure how good my chances were for adopting Lexi, but I figured it was worth a try.&nbsp; A couple of weeks later I finally received a reply from the lady who heads <a href="https://www.facebook.com/waggingdogrescue" target="_blank">Wagging Dog Rescue</a> and asked me to submit a formal application.&nbsp; She did mention that there was another family who was interested in Lexi, but she wasn't convinced that they were the right family for such an active dog.&nbsp;&nbsp; The rescue people liked my application better because they liked that Hubs and I are runners and have a very active lifestyle.&nbsp; It didn't hurt at all that we have a big back yard.&nbsp; It wasn't much longer that the date was set for Lexi's foster dad to bring her over to meet.&nbsp; We all bonded immediately, but she especially bonded with Hubs.&nbsp; She followed him everywhere.&nbsp; I kind of felt bad for her foster dad because we could tell he loved her, and that giving her over to us was hard.&nbsp; He was a little emotional with the good byes.&nbsp; After a two week "trial" period, the adoption was final and Lexi became a part of our family.&nbsp;&nbsp; </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MOkNmjO07tA/UTJkdTxjs1I/AAAAAAAAETo/xL1tmNMmBxM/s1600/363.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MOkNmjO07tA/UTJkdTxjs1I/AAAAAAAAETo/xL1tmNMmBxM/s400/363.JPG" width="298" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's all about the ball.&nbsp;&nbsp; The concentration is fierce. </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XQtVTnIThSA/UTJp5Ntw9uI/AAAAAAAAET8/zA3QkA6AdnQ/s1600/005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XQtVTnIThSA/UTJp5Ntw9uI/AAAAAAAAET8/zA3QkA6AdnQ/s400/005.JPG" width="298" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A "Lexi-Proof" ball.</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;">4 year old Lexi is VERY active.&nbsp; We must have a bajillion balls all over the yard now, and she loves to play fetch until our arms give out.&nbsp; Just as with training a person to run and adding mileage, I'm doing the same with Lexi.&nbsp; We're up to about 5 miles, but not solid running yet. I'd prefer to call running with Lexi "interval training." I think we'll be up to a solid 5 miles of running soon.&nbsp; I don't think I'll have her run more than 6 miles at a time once we get to that point, but I need to make sure she can go the whole five without having to slow down for anything -- except a potty stop.&nbsp; She has turned out to be a great running partner and gets excited when she sees me put on my running gear.&nbsp; </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Lexi gets along with just about everyone, even our cat Lumpy.&nbsp; They're not snuggle buddies, but they sniff out each other every morning and that's it.&nbsp;&nbsp; She has been great with kids, as we put her to the Evan and his best friend test.&nbsp; The three of them wore each other out.&nbsp; She does bark for her "greeting," which can be intimidating, but it's her way of saying "hello," especially since there's a wagging tail behind that bark. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Lexi's story of being a rescue is all too typical.&nbsp; She had at least two prior owners and was in either a shelter or the humane society, and was also found as a stray before she ended up at&nbsp; <a href="https://www.facebook.com/waggingdogrescue" target="_blank">Wagging Dog Rescue</a> .&nbsp; She is micro chipped and the rescue was able to trace her prior owners, but no one stepped up.&nbsp; This broke my heart.&nbsp; She weighed about 50 pounds when the rescue took her in, and should weight about 75 to 80 pounds.&nbsp; I'm happy to report that she's almost at her goal weight at 72 pounds at her last vet visit.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Lexi is definitely at her "fur-ever home" with us.&nbsp; We're in love.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bQnDLi_vz4E/UTJk1bE3s3I/AAAAAAAAETw/od5njmaHGq8/s1600/365.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bQnDLi_vz4E/UTJk1bE3s3I/AAAAAAAAETw/od5njmaHGq8/s400/365.JPG" width="298" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Waiting for "Daddy" to come home.</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Song from January 30, 2013:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">Never Grow Up - Taylor Swift </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">PEACE</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>Irenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03163803961338323135noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12534874.post-19109229673264978322013-01-30T19:38:00.002-08:002013-01-30T19:38:31.913-08:00Never Grow UpI've heard&nbsp; that with change comes growth, and if that's the case, my family and I should all be 10 feet tall. <br /><br />My son&nbsp; finally got a job and moved out, which make us officially empty nesters, but I think I've seen my son more since he's moved out.&nbsp; Hubs told him it was OK to come home and do laundry.&nbsp; I'm OK with that, as long as he does all his own laundry.&nbsp; <br /><br />We bid a long&nbsp; farewell to my husband's father.&nbsp; The services did not take place right away, but about 8 days later for the rosary, followed by the funeral service the next day, then two days later a trip to a very cold and bleak Griswold, Iowa for the burial.&nbsp; This was a bit taxing for my mother-in-law, but when it was all over we could sense that she was relieved.&nbsp; I didn't make the trip to Iowa because I needed to be back at work, but I kept in touch with hubs through texts and nightly phone calls.&nbsp; <br /><br />My dog, Logan, had slowed down over the past year. Around the end of November we thought we were going to put her down because she had a couple of days where she couldn't get up, but she bounced back to her usual nose-y self.&nbsp; Mid January her health suddenly took a turn, and the vet advised us to make her as comfortable as possible.&nbsp; The day finally came where I had to take her to the Humane Society for euthanasia, but by the time I had filled out the paperwork and paid, she has passed away on her own.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QaripZepfaU/UQng9f_f4XI/AAAAAAAAESs/7IsJsiZM7C4/s1600/Logan+and+Evan+2003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QaripZepfaU/UQng9f_f4XI/AAAAAAAAESs/7IsJsiZM7C4/s400/Logan+and+Evan+2003.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PHsyvEkuuWU/UQniJPJFoxI/AAAAAAAAES0/SpOJ8-0LotQ/s1600/Logan+the+bee+chaser+May+11,+2006+010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PHsyvEkuuWU/UQniJPJFoxI/AAAAAAAAES0/SpOJ8-0LotQ/s400/Logan+the+bee+chaser+May+11,+2006+010.jpg" width="273" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DGoxF2SigJ8/UQniRcewMEI/AAAAAAAAES8/3t_WVrrqHTU/s1600/Logan+dug+up+her+booda++baby.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DGoxF2SigJ8/UQniRcewMEI/AAAAAAAAES8/3t_WVrrqHTU/s400/Logan+dug+up+her+booda++baby.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Logan&nbsp;<br />1998 - 2013<br />&nbsp;</td></tr></tbody></table>The rosary for my father-in-law was that same evening, and, for whatever it's worth, the circumstances made it OK to grieve for both George and Logan.&nbsp; People understood.&nbsp; The hard part for me was seeing how heartbroken my son was, losing his grandfather and dog within such a short time.&nbsp; My son was one of the caretakers for my in-laws and spent a lot of time with my father-in-law, and Logan was mostly our dog together.&nbsp; <br /><br />I never expected to be an empty nester and not have a dog.&nbsp; Yes, I miss my kids and grandson, but I see them all at least once a week, if not more.&nbsp; It's way too quiet. We still have Lumpy the cat, but he's super quiet until he comes out to eat.&nbsp; I miss the click-clack of doggy toenails on the hardwood floors in the morning, when the dog would look to see why I wasn't up yet and come to give me a big wet kiss. I miss that she barked at certain noises -- and that made me feel secure. I loved my girl.&nbsp; I'm already inquiring at dog rescues and at the Humane Society.&nbsp; Applications have been sent and I've talked to a few people.&nbsp; Now I just have to be patient and wait.&nbsp; <br /><br />My daughter announced that she will be graduating from San Diego State University in May 2013 with her Bachelors Degree. She plans on going for her Masters right away, if she can get in to the program.&nbsp; When I find out, exactly, what the degree title is I'll post it. It has something to do with theater production arts.&nbsp; <br /><br />There are other changes on the horizon, but I can't discuss those until they actually happen.&nbsp; It's time to grow.&nbsp; There are good things ahead.&nbsp; Really. <br /><br /><br /><b>Song from January 20, 2013</b><br />Your Long Journey - Alison Krauss and Robert Plant<br /><br /><span style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>PEACE</b></span></span>Irenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03163803961338323135noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12534874.post-9545000867021526132013-01-20T14:21:00.002-08:002013-01-20T15:23:26.307-08:00Your Long Journey<div style="text-align: left;">The beginning of&nbsp; 2013 starts with a good-bye.&nbsp; On January 13, 2013, my husband's father passed away peacefully at home.&nbsp; George Sr. was quite the dynamic guy in his day and always had simultaneous home projects going.&nbsp; He was either applying decorative tile to the front steps, installing solar panels, refinishing hardwood floors, or planting new trees, amongst other projects.&nbsp; George was a regular at Home Depot.&nbsp; One of his most cherished projects was the wine cellar located in the sub floor of his split level home.&nbsp; The wine cellar had air conditioning years before the rest of the house did.&nbsp; George worked for years&nbsp; as a civil engineer for the City of San Diego.&nbsp; He worked on many projects that we drive on or drive past on a daily or weekly basis.&nbsp; In his last years he slowed down quite a bit.&nbsp; It was hard for my husband to see his once very active father slow way down.&nbsp; His last year was spent seated close to his wife of 62 years, Carlota, holding hands while watching television, or just sitting together.&nbsp; </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /><div style="text-align: left;">At our last track club run, hubs pointed out that we ran on the Ingrahm St. bridges just adjacent to Sea World, a project his father worked on.&nbsp; I think it was somewhat cathartic for Hubs to run on those bridges.&nbsp; </div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; text-align: center;"><i>"God's given us years of happiness here</i><br /><i>Now we must part</i><br /><i>And as the angels come and call for you</i><br /><i>The pains of grief tug at my heart</i><br /><i><br /></i><i>Oh my darling</i><br /><i>My darling</i><br /><i>My heart breaks as you take your long journey"</i><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_n9tRB-s6bg/UPxmd16nfyI/AAAAAAAAESU/TWcJGBoUSm4/s1600/Carlota+and+George+001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_n9tRB-s6bg/UPxmd16nfyI/AAAAAAAAESU/TWcJGBoUSm4/s640/Carlota+and+George+001.JPG" width="435" /></a></div>RIP George R. Morton Sr.<br />July 14, 1923 -&nbsp; January 13, 2013 <br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Song from Saturday, December 22, 2012</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">Merry Christmas, Baby - Charles Brown</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #4c1130;"><b>PEACE</b></span></span></div></div>Irenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03163803961338323135noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12534874.post-22172880707199118832012-12-22T16:34:00.000-08:002012-12-22T16:34:10.160-08:00Merry Christmas, BabyBesides my computer blowing up, everything is quite well.&nbsp; I had a ton of pictures to post and a lot of stories to tell, but my computer blew up.&nbsp; Really.&nbsp; Our computer is currently being fixed by our computer wizard friend and I hope it returns soon.&nbsp; I suck at blogging via iPhone or iPad. I've&nbsp; been posting over at Facebook, but for those of you not on Facebook I'll post a brief outline.<br /><br /><b>November </b><br /><br />We flew up north to Monterey to celebrate my niece's wedding.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5v1gPBmFru8/UNZImhKdbII/AAAAAAAAEP4/D9Tuu8Lfdes/s1600/ANNE+11252012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5v1gPBmFru8/UNZImhKdbII/AAAAAAAAEP4/D9Tuu8Lfdes/s320/ANNE+11252012.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Anne just before the ceremony</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5IZ9AGK_glM/UNZI32EXp7I/AAAAAAAAEQA/av6gdqOq8ik/s1600/PB240213.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5IZ9AGK_glM/UNZI32EXp7I/AAAAAAAAEQA/av6gdqOq8ik/s320/PB240213.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Anne and David exchanging vows</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-inbAdkGUdvY/UNZI58RwkHI/AAAAAAAAEQI/8VYCl63Nfwk/s1600/PB240221.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="319" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-inbAdkGUdvY/UNZI58RwkHI/AAAAAAAAEQI/8VYCl63Nfwk/s320/PB240221.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Post wedding photo op - My sister Donna, My daughter Renee, Me, My sister-in-law Ellen</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3xqj8WbJl9A/UNZJH6BTXpI/AAAAAAAAEQQ/3XHeEPxXaQc/s1600/PB240222.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NYW6INS0Zlo/UNZLnfTechI/AAAAAAAAEQ4/dD5GQKOEgcQ/s1600/PB240273.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NYW6INS0Zlo/UNZLnfTechI/AAAAAAAAEQ4/dD5GQKOEgcQ/s320/PB240273.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Renee caught the bouquet!</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-h4R5rFpLjCc/UNZL5FfHxTI/AAAAAAAAERI/E3U6HbgFvMY/s1600/PB240207.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-h4R5rFpLjCc/UNZL5FfHxTI/AAAAAAAAERI/E3U6HbgFvMY/s320/PB240207.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Besides attending the wedding, we spent a lot of time at the beach, which was just a short walk away.</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Oakit_IxXuM/UNZMcjEKKCI/AAAAAAAAERQ/4sJt-pl5yII/s1600/Irene+and+Evan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Oakit_IxXuM/UNZMcjEKKCI/AAAAAAAAERQ/4sJt-pl5yII/s320/Irene+and+Evan.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Spending time with my favorite 9 year old!</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NYW6INS0Zlo/UNZLnfTechI/AAAAAAAAEQ4/dD5GQKOEgcQ/s1600/PB240273.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>Soon after the wedding, hubs and I celebrated an anniversary.&nbsp; When we first thought of this particular anniversary, Hawaii seemed like a good place to celebrate.&nbsp; The bulk of the expense that would have gone toward a Hawaiian vacation went toward getting my family (all 5 of us) to and from the wedding up north, plus hotel rooms.&nbsp; Instead, we took the day off from work and&nbsp; spent our wedding anniversary in our own hometown, and enjoyed perfect weather without going too far. <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0vRxl14x_RA/UNZNVj2TRJI/AAAAAAAAERc/-RHQN66nSb8/s1600/Irene+and+Michael+30th+anniversary.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="338" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0vRxl14x_RA/UNZNVj2TRJI/AAAAAAAAERc/-RHQN66nSb8/s400/Irene+and+Michael+30th+anniversary.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Celebrating 30 years of marriage at Crystal Pier., San Diego, CA. </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />I'm sort of running, but very inconsistently.&nbsp; I have been able to spend more time running with the track club, but I'm slacking on putting in the miles on my own. I have a half marathon in early March, so I'll get myself in gear soon and put in more weekly miles.&nbsp; <br /><br />I'm about to have neck issues from being on the make-shift computer area that Hubs assembled.&nbsp; The monitor on a TV wall mount, and I have to look up to see what I'm entering.&nbsp; I will close for now and I hope to get in one more post before the end of the year.<br /><br />Happy holidays, friends!&nbsp; Wishing you peace and love for the holidays and always.<br /><br /><br />XO<br /><br /><span style="color: #e06666;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>PEACE </b></span></span><br /><b><br /></b><b>Song from Monday, November 26, 2012:</b><br />C is for Cookie - The Cookie MonsterIrenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03163803961338323135noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12534874.post-92026376888455896172012-11-26T12:57:00.000-08:002012-11-28T21:01:11.563-08:00C is for Cookie<b>PRODUCT REVIEW</b><br /><br /><a href="http://www.nairns-oatcakes.com/" target="_blank">Narins's Stem Ginger Cookies and &nbsp;Mixed Berries Oat Cookies</a>.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9G57u46v6A0/ULQy4CuZqeI/AAAAAAAAEPE/7HHkxNXYR7g/s1600/016.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9G57u46v6A0/ULQy4CuZqeI/AAAAAAAAEPE/7HHkxNXYR7g/s320/016.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />I'm not a self proclaimed foodie, even though Hubs says I am. &nbsp;I do like to eat and I know what I like, and if that makes me a foodie so be it. &nbsp;When I was asked to review a food product, cookies in particular, I was all over it.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-y8iXcd_VI2g/ULPYTMTy6WI/AAAAAAAAEOw/gN_HM8MF3B0/s1600/011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-y8iXcd_VI2g/ULPYTMTy6WI/AAAAAAAAEOw/gN_HM8MF3B0/s200/011.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stem Ginger Oat Cookie</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Narin's makes a variety of oat and gluten free and vegan food products, such as crackers, hot cereal and cookies. &nbsp;I was sent a box of stem ginger oat cookies and a box of mixed berries oat cookies. &nbsp;The cookies were light, crunchy, oaty and delicious, but I became quite fond of the stem ginger cookies, even more than the mixed berries cookies. &nbsp;The stem ginger flavor was very robust, and I love ginger. I discovered that the stem ginger cookies could be easily eaten alone or in addition to a bowl of ice cream, or in my case coconut milk ice cream -- to which I ended up making stem ginger cookie and coconut milk ice cream sandwiches with almond slivers on the side.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ElEk9wukis8/ULPOuuYmpNI/AAAAAAAAEN8/LYUMioeJsM8/s1600/STCG+photo+contest+11+2012+010+-+Copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="109" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ElEk9wukis8/ULPOuuYmpNI/AAAAAAAAEN8/LYUMioeJsM8/s320/STCG+photo+contest+11+2012+010+-+Copy.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />If you're a berry fan, then the mixed berries cookies will be right up your alley. &nbsp;These would go perfect with a nice hot cup of herbal tea on a cold day. &nbsp;The berry flavor is pleasant, but more subtle than the stem ginger. &nbsp;I also tried to pair these with the coconut milk ice cream, but the mixed berry flavor is better by itself.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2Ws2s1uGf7c/ULPQDkL_BUI/AAAAAAAAEOM/xnhCcX16yJw/s1600/Narins.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2Ws2s1uGf7c/ULPQDkL_BUI/AAAAAAAAEOM/xnhCcX16yJw/s320/Narins.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Someone else wanted to scarf down my creation. &nbsp;See those eyes behind the plate???</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br />Yes I would buy Narin's products, especially the stem ginger cookies. &nbsp;Now I'm curious about some of their other products such as their "Oaty Bakes."<br /><b><br /></b><b>Song from Thursday, November 15, 2012:</b><br />She's a Rainbow - The Rolling Stones - <a href="http://missrachel.com/" target="_blank">Miss Rachel</a><br /><br /><br /><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange; font-size: x-large;">PEACE</span></b><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Irenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03163803961338323135noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12534874.post-39431093490538693032012-11-15T20:23:00.000-08:002012-11-15T20:23:12.116-08:00She's a RainbowThe Color Run came to our town at the beginning of this month, and my sister and brother-in-law joined us for the festivities.<br /><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4iorTVLoRP0/UKWW9ntsGgI/AAAAAAAAELk/scwa08Y_8R8/s1600/63096_4859020320100_1452229590_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4iorTVLoRP0/UKWW9ntsGgI/AAAAAAAAELk/scwa08Y_8R8/s640/63096_4859020320100_1452229590_n.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pre race photo op. &nbsp;Look how gleamingly white the shirts are!</td></tr></tbody></table><div>The Color Run &nbsp;5K is a fun run, meaning no clock, no chips. &nbsp;It was quite the event and there were two &nbsp;time slots for the event, at 9 AM and 2PM. &nbsp;We opted for the 9 AM start. &nbsp;If you look carefully, you just might find us in this random group shot:</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RpTvTu_-hTQ/UKWZM4UbjzI/AAAAAAAAELs/4v4GljJdEps/s1600/504_420870824633635_808286195_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RpTvTu_-hTQ/UKWZM4UbjzI/AAAAAAAAELs/4v4GljJdEps/s640/504_420870824633635_808286195_n.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Trust me. &nbsp;We're in this photo. &nbsp;Hint - &nbsp;We're the ones wearing white... &nbsp;j/k. &nbsp;Hubs is wearing his dayglo yellow hat</td></tr></tbody></table>The Qualcomm Stadium parking lot isn't the most scenic place for a 5k run, but it was big enough to handle this size of an event. At certain points in the run we were pelted/squirted/sprinkled with dyed cornstarch powder by voulenteers. It was like running through a fog, but a colored fog. I think the first color we ran through was yellow. The color gets everywhere. My brother-in-law really doesn't run, so we did a walk/run. We had so much fun. Good clean fun, um, no, good messy, colorful fun. <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GkPKAmpTPmQ/UKWcbKDQiTI/AAAAAAAAEME/vm-CJFv4124/s1600/197022_4858972838913_1485538859_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GkPKAmpTPmQ/UKWcbKDQiTI/AAAAAAAAEME/vm-CJFv4124/s400/197022_4858972838913_1485538859_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A colorful bunch! &nbsp;</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>We were multi-color dusty when we were finished. We tried to brush off as best as possible before leaving, but the cornstarch dye stuck to anything and everything that got sweaty or wet, and stuck in every nook and crannie imaginable, even if it was covered...&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0YqLqypIalI/UKW3TlWx7MI/AAAAAAAAEMY/tmvRRFhxviA/s1600/color+run+2012+Donna.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0YqLqypIalI/UKW3TlWx7MI/AAAAAAAAEMY/tmvRRFhxviA/s400/color+run+2012+Donna.jpg" width="298" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Post run breakfast at the High Dive. &nbsp;I actually washed my hands before taking this picture. &nbsp;That's my sister &nbsp;in the background still covered in blue. &nbsp;One of the servers asked if we were attacked by Smurfs.&nbsp;</td></tr></tbody></table><div>After a a shower and a few hours to recoup, Hubs and I attended ANOTHER fun run. &nbsp;We attended a BEvERage Mile fundraiser AKA The Beer Mile. &nbsp;It was supposed to be a BEER mile, but not all of us can chug &nbsp;a12 ounce cans of beer each quarter mile, equalling four beers. &nbsp;There was an 8 ounce per quarter mile margarita option. &nbsp;I chose the margarita option. The first 8 ounce chug was not too hard, but after a quarter mile run the next thee chugs and runs were brutal. &nbsp;I won my division -- The Classy Lady Division... &nbsp;I'm not quite sure how I feel about winning an event where you drink booze and run, but I did. &nbsp; Here's my classy trophy and shower loofa prize for winning:</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-O6DLZE0WVss/UKW59Xrt3LI/AAAAAAAAEMs/SogWcw9lSGo/s1600/Beer+Mile.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-O6DLZE0WVss/UKW59Xrt3LI/AAAAAAAAEMs/SogWcw9lSGo/s400/Beer+Mile.jpg" width="298" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Even after a shower I <i>STILL </i>had dye imbedded in my fingernails. &nbsp;</td></tr></tbody></table><div>All proceeds went to the MS Society. &nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div><i>I do want to point out that I really DON'T drink that much, but it seems like every time I post I talk about drinking just about as much as I talk about running. &nbsp;That sounds awful, but to put it in perspective, my blogging has dwindled down to monthly instead of weekly or bi-weekly. &nbsp;</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div>I also have a product review, but I'll save that for my next post, which will be VERY soon. &nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Song from October 3, 2012:</b></div><div>All I Really Want - Alanis Morrisette</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #134f5c; font-size: x-large;"><b>PEACE</b></span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>&nbsp;</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i><br /></i></div>Irenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03163803961338323135noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12534874.post-57117389449801372392012-10-03T17:57:00.001-07:002012-10-03T17:57:56.670-07:00All I Really Want<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Fall rolled around last month and so did the heat. &nbsp; It's not that &nbsp;bad, really, but when you don't have an air conditioner, most of your fans are broken, and the stores have replaced their summer promotional items (like fans) with Christmas decorations, it kind of sucks. &nbsp;Last year we had virtually no summer and I guess this is Mother Nature making up for slacking off. &nbsp;Temperatures have been in the 90s and 100s, even in my neighborhood, which tends to be at least 10 degrees cooler than the rest of San Diego county. <br /><br />Enough about the weather...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qVXQEI6cq9I/UGzHVi4ZwSI/AAAAAAAAEKU/qiZng7tVdr8/s1600/027.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qVXQEI6cq9I/UGzHVi4ZwSI/AAAAAAAAEKU/qiZng7tVdr8/s320/027.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8NzA1pKvcu0/UGzHDZ3JvUI/AAAAAAAAEKM/Sb7wMsQrM3Q/s1600/Shark+attack.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="48" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8NzA1pKvcu0/UGzHDZ3JvUI/AAAAAAAAEKM/Sb7wMsQrM3Q/s320/Shark+attack.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8gn15fYRK4E/UGzGRx2upbI/AAAAAAAAEKE/6xJ98y0sh7U/s1600/mizuno-running-womens-wave-creation-13-410455-f-pri-003J.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="129" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8gn15fYRK4E/UGzGRx2upbI/AAAAAAAAEKE/6xJ98y0sh7U/s200/mizuno-running-womens-wave-creation-13-410455-f-pri-003J.png" width="200" /></a></div>I've been fortunate to be on somewhat of a winning streak, so to speak of. &nbsp;Over the past few months I've won a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/InfiniteFields" target="_blank">Pitter Potter hydroponic planter</a>, <a href="http://www.sharkattackcocktails.com/" target="_blank">Shark Attack pops</a> (like Otter Pops, but with alcohol for adults), a pair of <a href="http://www.mizunousa.com/running/products/mizuno-women%E2%80%99s-wave-creation-13-running-shoes" target="_blank">Mizunos</a>, and won two entries to be a guest of <a href="http://www.thecookingguy.com/" target="_blank">Sam The Cooking Guy </a>at a local fundraising event/competition called "Chef Showdown." &nbsp;<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc7/375884_360609097354446_1641513768_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc7/375884_360609097354446_1641513768_n.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo op with Sam.</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YTK6RlagCxU/UGzEzhIHn-I/AAAAAAAAEJ8/zY1TO26SAj4/s1600/039.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YTK6RlagCxU/UGzEzhIHn-I/AAAAAAAAEJ8/zY1TO26SAj4/s400/039.JPG" width="298" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My date - &nbsp;Hubs, of course!</td></tr></tbody></table>A few people have joked with me that I should try playing the lottery... &nbsp;I must say that I've enjoyed my wins. &nbsp;I've continued to get a lot of use out of the hydroponic planter and have replanted twice. &nbsp; The Shark Attack pops came in handy when we had an evening of heat and humidity. You know I"m a sucker for running shoes, but I'm really liking my Mizuno Wave Creations. &nbsp;I've already logged a bunch of miles on those babies. &nbsp;The most fun was definitely being a guest of Sam the Cooking Guy. &nbsp;The Chef Showdown proceeds went to benefit the Center For Community Solutions and Domestic Violence Awareness Month. &nbsp;The venue was Liberty Station at Point Loma -- outdoors. &nbsp;There was a silent auction and an actual auction. &nbsp;There were several booths and tables set up by several local restaurants and spirits companies. &nbsp;We received small plates with "bites" of food, but there was so many bites of food that we were stuffed. &nbsp;I must add that the bites were over the top delicious. We did get to know Sam briefly, but we spent more time with one of his assistants and his assistant's girlfriend. &nbsp;We chatted so long that we barely paid attention to the actual&nbsp;Chef Showdown competition which was like a version of the shows Chopped or Iron Chef.<br /><br />I went ahead and joined the track club's Whatever fall program. &nbsp;I wasn't able to join the summer program because I worked most weekends. &nbsp;I did attend twice with Hubs, who did join for the summer, but it wasn't enough to fit in any actual training or decent runs. &nbsp;My Fall Saturday work schedule is somewhat spread out due to the doctor's schedule, which gives me more opportunities to run with my track club friends on Saturday mornings. &nbsp;With &nbsp;me joining up with the track club for fall means that I'm officially off of my running hiatus. &nbsp;I'll be back to half marathon training soon. &nbsp;I haven't decided if I'm going to run the in Carlsbad half marathon in January 2013 yet, especially since I'm just getting back to adding miles. &nbsp;I don't even know if Carlsbad is sold out yet. My next half marathon is the San Diego Half Marathon in March 2013. &nbsp;The fall runing program will get me back on track. &nbsp;I must add that the long sleeved tech t-shirt is very nice, and I especially like that it says &nbsp;"Run For Darrel" on it. &nbsp;This fall session is dedicated to Darrel, a long time track club member who was very ill with cancer. &nbsp;Darrel was still with us when the shirts were ordered, but, saldly, by the time the shirts arrived he had succumbed to the cancer. &nbsp;I feel very priviliged to have known Darrel, and I really like wearing the shirt in his honor.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0nH3rGn5hhY/UGzWYHELV8I/AAAAAAAAEKo/0suQiZFVZ7Q/s1600/003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0nH3rGn5hhY/UGzWYHELV8I/AAAAAAAAEKo/0suQiZFVZ7Q/s320/003.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Run For Darrel</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Finally, Hubs had complained that we took no vacation time to do anything this summer. &nbsp;I took a look at the <a href="http://humphreysconcerts.com/index.cfm" target="_blank">Humphrey's Concert by the Bay</a> line up and Alanis Morrisette was added. &nbsp;We booked the dinner, room, concert package. &nbsp;We ended up with one of the rooms just adjacent to the stage and IMMEADIATLY called friends to hang out in our room to catch the show. <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hL9flQICtBQ/UGzb2xhUzvI/AAAAAAAAELQ/uolyAwI2I8o/s1600/059.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hL9flQICtBQ/UGzb2xhUzvI/AAAAAAAAELQ/uolyAwI2I8o/s320/059.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Souleye" opened for Alanis Morrisette. &nbsp;Not a bad &nbsp;view from the room, right?</td></tr></tbody></table>Monday night is kind of tough for most people, but &nbsp; &nbsp;two really good freinds came out. &nbsp;While the were there at the show, they saw two of their freinds sitting in the back row and told them to come up, which was wonderful because they are huge Alanis Morisette fans. &nbsp;Michael and I had awesome seats down on the floor, second row center, and we were so fortunate to get that room so our friends could enjoy the show. <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ryYSxDHM9QM/UGzZ1tfrJPI/AAAAAAAAELA/1oPEJ87E8c4/s1600/095.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ryYSxDHM9QM/UGzZ1tfrJPI/AAAAAAAAELA/1oPEJ87E8c4/s320/095.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I have to laugh because there are signs saying &nbsp;"no recording devices allowed," but &nbsp;security didn't enfore it.<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p-FIJY87uHY/UGzacH_qqaI/AAAAAAAAELI/4pH0QUwkgLA/s1600/070.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p-FIJY87uHY/UGzacH_qqaI/AAAAAAAAELI/4pH0QUwkgLA/s320/070.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alanis</td></tr></tbody></table>I just wanted to share some of my end-of-summer highlights, and to remind myself that there are a lot more highlights to come, especially when things get tough.<br /><br /><b>Song From Thursday, August 23, 2012:</b><br />What Doesn't Kill You - Kelly Clarkson<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;<br /><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta; font-size: x-large;">PEACE</span></b>Irenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03163803961338323135noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12534874.post-18555370746192193152012-08-23T19:06:00.001-07:002012-08-23T19:06:29.117-07:00What Doesn't Kill YouOh yeah, I have a blog.<br /><br />I honestly didn't mean to neglect my blog for two months, but I've been sort of busy and sort of not busy.&nbsp; I guess not concentrating so much on running also put less emphasis on the need to blog, since my blog tends to center around running. <br /><br />Here's what I"ve been up to while not running as much:<br /><br /><b>Beach Body Ultimate Reset </b><br /><br />As a lot of you already know, I've been dealing with bouts of fatigue for over a year.&nbsp; I knew I needed to become more proactive since medical tests were coming up inconclusive.&nbsp; I needed to clean up my nutrition, but I really needed a fresh start with guidance. I did a 21 day cleanse. &nbsp; I did a little research and decided to take on the<a href="http://www.ultimatereset.com/" target="_blank"> Beach Body Ultimate Reset </a>-- UR for short.&nbsp; I was a little skeptical at first, and was concerned that the kit I purchased would have some sort of stimulant in it.&nbsp; As far as I can tell, there were no stimulants in any of the provided supplements.&nbsp; If anything, I was weaned off of any kind of stimulant, including caffeine and alcohol.&nbsp; I selected UR because I was able to eat real real food through out the entire 21 days.&nbsp; I know jucing is the big thing right now, and a lot of people have great success with it, but I have this thing about enjoying what I'm eating, and enjoying crunch and certain textures, which is something that I couldn't get with juicing.&nbsp; The UR kit came with 6 different supplements, a guide book with recipes, a guide to cooking DVD (for those who never really cook) and a "motivational" DVD.&nbsp; Oh, also included was a macrame hemp string bracelet as sort of a "belonging to the club" thing (I guess), which I never wore or even took out of the package.&nbsp; Week one was all about not eating any processed foods and gently being weaned off of animal proteins.&nbsp; I did have some fish, chicken and eggs that week, but most of the foods centered around fresh fruits and vegetables/legumes, certain whole grains such as quinoa and brown rice, and a lot of water.&nbsp; Week one is also about eliminating dairy, but I'm already dairy free and have been for years.&nbsp; Week two was no animal proteins and a lot more vegetable based proteins.&nbsp; Week three was a lot more fruit and vegetables, but less plant based proteins.&nbsp; Before you get bent out of shape about the lack of proteins<span style="color: red;">*</span>, I did supplement not having protein with Braggs liquid aminos, especially that last week.&nbsp; The supplements included with the kit also coincided with each week and the elimination of certain foods, so I wasn't taking all 6 supplements at the same time.&nbsp;&nbsp;<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dAPnTHePPI0/UDbRyRJiPdI/AAAAAAAAEJM/6k7_C7jJLh0/s1600/ultimate+reset.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="130" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dAPnTHePPI0/UDbRyRJiPdI/AAAAAAAAEJM/6k7_C7jJLh0/s320/ultimate+reset.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />I began UR the day after the 4th of July food fest holiday.&nbsp; On the 4th of July I ate <a href="http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2bFBhn/:1w%21HjmARV:GNrH4zrv/www.thelondoner.me/2011/06/slutty-brownies.html/" target="_blank">Slutty Brownies</a> as if I were never going to have another ever, ever again, and I also had a few celebratory beers and a lot of junk food.&nbsp; Everything changed the next day, and I was committed.&nbsp; I did have a couple of days with being extremely tired and had headaches --&nbsp; probably from no caffeine and no processed sugars, but I did OK after that, and never once felt deprived or super hungry.&nbsp;&nbsp; The goal of the UR was to feel better and figure out what could be the possible culprit of my fatigue, but in the process I lost 9 pounds.&nbsp; Weight loss was never the goal, but I knew I would drop some weight, maybe 3 or 4 pounds.&nbsp; I'll take the 9 pounds weight loss, and that's reasonable and healthy weight loss for me.<span style="color: red;">**</span> Now that I've been almost 4 weeks post UR,&nbsp; and eating relatively clean with a once a week free day, I've discovered that foods made with processed white flour may be the culprit. I had a few big bites of my husband's carne asada burrito, (which, by the way, was ridiculously delicious and made with one of those ginormous flour tortillas) and felt as if I had a hang-over the next morning.&nbsp; I had carne asada without the tortilla from the same restaurant, which is why I think it's the processed white flour causing some of the fatigue.&nbsp;<br /><br />In addition, there was supposed to be no strenuous exercising during UR. I did run twice, which was difficult at best and probably not the best idea, but I did go for walks and had a few easy sessions at Rehab United.&nbsp; I also had a few home projects that kept me busy.<br /><br />PS:<br />This program will probably not be easy for people who have never set foot in a kitchen.&nbsp; There's a lot of prep involved,&nbsp; and some of the recipes require marinating for a few hours.&nbsp; After the first week I made sure I prepped food a few days in advanced, especially on the days I had to work.&nbsp; Who wants to grate carrots every day?&nbsp; The food processor was my best tool and such a time saver.&nbsp; I did discover that a lot of important information was not included in the material I received.&nbsp; I had to find information on Facebook, such as shopping lists, where to buy certain foods,&nbsp; substitutes, how much to eat of certain foods, and general support.&nbsp; I understand that the Beach Body company is rewriting the book to accommodate these needs.&nbsp; The participant portal on the Ultimate Reset site was also impossible to access, until I contacted tech support --&nbsp; but I never used it.&nbsp; I'd give the program itself an A, but the way the book is written and the lack of information readily available, I'd give that part a B-/C+.&nbsp; I shouldn't have to search several sites for basic information, it should be provided.<br /><b><br /></b><b>Home Projects</b><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ozJ-_NMe2gc/UDbKkLT1z0I/AAAAAAAAEII/nBODerKE0Ao/s1600/012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ozJ-_NMe2gc/UDbKkLT1z0I/AAAAAAAAEII/nBODerKE0Ao/s320/012.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We didn't rent the big, industrial sander.&nbsp; It took several weeks to sand one floor with a small belt sander and a small vibrating sander.&nbsp; Good times.</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gGjxQdKJmyg/UDbKx3DtF1I/AAAAAAAAEIQ/nbtdpKZorOQ/s1600/024.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gGjxQdKJmyg/UDbKx3DtF1I/AAAAAAAAEIQ/nbtdpKZorOQ/s320/024.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The floor is done, but that pink has got to go!</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KJzZNCxql98/UDbMMo1hi3I/AAAAAAAAEIY/4zaQiUlV83g/s1600/002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KJzZNCxql98/UDbMMo1hi3I/AAAAAAAAEIY/4zaQiUlV83g/s320/002.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hubs painting the first coat.&nbsp; It took three coats.</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yGQ5-G2Af3s/UDbMX3KLN1I/AAAAAAAAEIg/rDucRHPmVFk/s1600/013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yGQ5-G2Af3s/UDbMX3KLN1I/AAAAAAAAEIg/rDucRHPmVFk/s320/013.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's not pink any more, but it sure looks naked!&nbsp; Color might come back, just not as intense. </td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KAj3rYjfFnY/UDbNkS-48jI/AAAAAAAAEIo/CUCzXYDhHJk/s1600/014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KAj3rYjfFnY/UDbNkS-48jI/AAAAAAAAEIo/CUCzXYDhHJk/s320/014.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another room.&nbsp; This was my grandson's room.&nbsp; It was white, had a car bed and car decals on the wall, plus a zillion Legos and Hotwheels cars everywhere.&nbsp; Now it's a guest room.&nbsp; It's reeeallly blue, but with white curtains up it looks pretty &nbsp; and tranquil -- now everyone want's to hang out in there.&nbsp;&nbsp; We threw an air mattress in there to make sure a queen sized bed would fit, and that will be the next purchase.&nbsp; I'll post a picture when it's complete. </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b>My Dad's House</b><br /><b><br /></b>I know I had mentioned about an intervention regarding my dad's living conditions.&nbsp; My sister and her husband put everything in motion and the process has begun.&nbsp;&nbsp; Last week was the big exterior clean up with a team of gardeners to clear the over growth, and hubs and my brother in law worked on getting the old junk out of the back yard and garage, which was hauled away while my dad was at baseball game with friends.&nbsp; My sister and I worked on clearing off the family room floor.&nbsp; There were enough yellow and white pages phone books, magazines and newspapers to fill up a jumbo sized curbside recycle bin<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gjHqhnADEoM/UDbPlRhMKCI/AAAAAAAAEI8/JYVjrD9kxHk/s1600/015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gjHqhnADEoM/UDbPlRhMKCI/AAAAAAAAEI8/JYVjrD9kxHk/s320/015.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is just a fraction of the junk taken out of my dad's back yard.&nbsp; There were old lawn mowers, broken patio furniture, termite infested wood, etc...</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UTCJcuk5HP0/UDbQ7Wn0ekI/AAAAAAAAEJE/bCS21Escd98/s1600/020.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UTCJcuk5HP0/UDbQ7Wn0ekI/AAAAAAAAEJE/bCS21Escd98/s320/020.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I didn't take a before picture, but his floor area was COVERED with newspapers and magazines.&nbsp; We stood and marveled at the floor for a while because it was so clear.&nbsp; Even my sister's dog noticed since there was now a place for the dog to lay.</td></tr></tbody></table>&nbsp;This week the house was power washed, and this weekend the exterior painting begins.&nbsp; After the painting is finished, we're going to see about getting the kitchen remodeled.&nbsp; Oy vey.&nbsp; That kitchen NEEDS an overhaul.<br /><br /><b>Song from Thursday, June 21, 2012:</b><br />Thicker Than Water - Cobra Skuls <br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">PEACE</span></b></span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: red;">*</span>People are funny.&nbsp; You go without any kind of animal protein for any length of time and people are suddenly concerned with your protein intake, or act as if you're doing illegal drugs.&nbsp; Sheesh.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: red; font-size: x-small;">**&nbsp; </span><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;">I wasn't counting on such a significant weight loss, so I didn't take before and after pictures.&nbsp; This was a very healthy weight loss and I do feel better. My clothes</span> certainly fit better.Irenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03163803961338323135noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12534874.post-4488117395186288692012-06-21T17:34:00.002-07:002012-06-27T18:53:59.131-07:00Thicker Than Water<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NMfiZEfWBqY/T-OErLOqX3I/AAAAAAAAEHU/iUT8WIW_uig/s1600/022.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NMfiZEfWBqY/T-OErLOqX3I/AAAAAAAAEHU/iUT8WIW_uig/s320/022.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A street construction area sign posted in front of my house yesterday.&nbsp; Not very clear. </td></tr></tbody></table>The construction isn't only going on outside my house, it will be going on within myself. <br /><br />I have not run since the SDRNR Half Marathon on June 3.&nbsp; This makes it a record for me not running in a non-injured, non-sick state of being.&nbsp; I need the break, but I'm also feeling like a slug since I haven't really cut back the calories I eat when I run.&nbsp; I had no plan in place for after the half marathon, especially with nutrition, but I've been doing a little research since then.<br /><br />I've been looking for some sort of "cleanse" that wasn't too extreme.&nbsp; I don't want to be a slave to the restroom.&nbsp; I wanted something where I could actually eat real food in addition to whatever supplements I would need to take.&nbsp; I also don't want to feel deprived.&nbsp; I have come across something that sounds doable, but I won't post about it just yet.&nbsp; I plan on doing this "cleanse" after the 4th of July.&nbsp; I'll post about it when I'm done, just so I can give a fair assessment of it.<br /><br />I'll also be&nbsp; looking into doing some sort of exercise regimen, probably incorporate a lot of what I used to do before I became more serious about running, which was weight training, but more of a HIIT workout. On my cardio days I'll probably run, but only for 20 minutes worth of high intensity intervals. <br /><br />The whole reason behind this reboot is because I feel like I've lost a lot of strength.&nbsp; It wasn't that long ago that I could bust out 50+ push-ups with no problem, but now I feel fatigue at 10.&nbsp; It's not just the push-ups, it's every thing else as well.&nbsp; If I don't take care of myself now it will be harder to get everything back later. In addition to losing strength, my head just isn't in the whole workout, running, fitness thing.&nbsp; I know this is all normal and we all burn out at some point. I'm just hoping to reignite whatever it was that kept me going.<br /><br /><b>OTHER BABBLE...</b><br /><br />The house is quiet with my daughter and the kiddo moved out.&nbsp; As much as I enjoy my grandson's cheery voice, I'm enjoying the quiet time in the evening.&nbsp; I do miss them, but I've wanted them to be out on their own for a while, and because it was time.&nbsp; I think they'll be fine. The kiddo is set up with swim lessons and summer school.<br /><br />We had an intervention of sorts with my Dad.&nbsp; My dad is 83 years old and still lives in the house our family lived in for many years.&nbsp; The house is too big for my dad and, due to his <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macular_degeneration">macular degneration</a>, he really can't see what needs to be fixed with it, and there's plenty. He doesn't want ANYONE&nbsp; touching his stuff, not even a family member, but we need to get a crew in there to start making repairs and a housekeeper to keep it clean and tidy.&nbsp; Right now it's a matter of baby steps and we're trying to get a contractor to at least get started with painting the exterior of the house. Herding kittens is easier than dealing with my dad.&nbsp; My dad is in denial and doesn't want to discuss his living conditions, but wants to go on another cruise instead. <br /><br />The City of San Diego is finally replacing the sewer lines in our neighborhood.&nbsp; The old cast iron pipes were from the early 1900s, perhaps even earlier.&nbsp; The pipes seemed to systematically burst, one right after the next.&nbsp; Thank goodness they're replacing the pipes on our street before that happened, and I felt our street was ready to have some sort of sink hole happen at any second.<br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zQF1QTVDaOw/T-OrAsoDGVI/AAAAAAAAEHo/UgCR7o3UfVk/s1600/021.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zQF1QTVDaOw/T-OrAsoDGVI/AAAAAAAAEHo/UgCR7o3UfVk/s320/021.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New pipes!&nbsp; I hope they get rid of the overhead power lines next...</td></tr></tbody></table><br />I've been in back in Mizunos for about the past year, the Wave Prophecy, and have purchased a second pair. The first pair has well over 200 miles on them and are not ready for retirement, but I have the new pair just in case.&nbsp; I like that I've been able to wear a shoe for running and not have to think about how it feels -- No hot spots, not weird rubbing, no blisters, no discomfort, no "wearing them in to get used to them" time. These just work for me.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-A_dlW8NrEJk/T-Ov5Aw7MeI/AAAAAAAAEH0/ADvQMPCIYVw/s1600/mizuno+wave+prophecy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-A_dlW8NrEJk/T-Ov5Aw7MeI/AAAAAAAAEH0/ADvQMPCIYVw/s320/mizuno+wave+prophecy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />I've been contacted by Mae at Mizuno News and the Mezamashii Run Project to discuss joining the Mezamashii community and enter to score a pair of Mizunos.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/LecBNvtWFkE" width="560"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>If you're interested in an invite, and, perhaps scoring&nbsp; a pair of shoes in their giveaway, click on <a href="http://www.mizunousa.com/mezamashiirunproject">THIS LINK</a> then click on "apply for an invite."&nbsp; I'm not a part of the Mezamashii Run Project (yet) since I just applied, but I hope to be, and I also hope to score a new pair of Mizunos.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="color: #e69138;">6/27/2012&nbsp; EDIT - I won and selected the Mizuno Wave Creation!&nbsp; (Not my first choice, but MY Wave Prophecies weren't included in the choices, but, still, I won a pair of running shoes!)&nbsp; Woo hoo!&nbsp; They should arrive around July 20.&nbsp; </span></b></span><br /><br /><br /><b>Song from Friday, June 8, 2012:</b><br />With a Little Help From My Friends - The Beatles, Joe Cocker <a href="http://cavnero.blogspot.com/">- Run With&nbsp; the Black Knight</a><br /><br /><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: x-large;"><b>PEACE</b></span>Irenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03163803961338323135noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12534874.post-73401746632200707062012-06-08T19:56:00.000-07:002012-06-10T09:26:53.432-07:00With a Little Help From My Friends<b>PART 2</b><br /><br />The week of my aunt's services was also the same week my daughter and grandson moved out and the same week leading into half marathon #19.<br /><br />My daughter did not move out in one fell swoop.&nbsp; The first day she rented truck and moved her larger items, then slowly boxed and moved everything else in the days to follow.&nbsp; I was so consumed with my aunt's passing and the upcoming half marathon that I didn't have time to digest that my daughter was FINALLY going to be on her own, with her son.&nbsp; Hubs and I had some concerns at first, such as her finances, but she needs to learn and grow and make her own decisions.&nbsp; This move was long overdue.&nbsp; It didn't hit me that both my daughter and grandson were gone until that first Saturday morning without the sounds of my grandson's cheery morning voice and the voice of my daughter inquiring about his breakfast desires.&nbsp; The house was way too quiet.&nbsp; It was a little bit sad that I didn't get to see them off the way I wanted to, but before I had the chance to become overly melancholy, they were back at the house for another carload of things to move.<br /><br />Half marathon Friday evening was the track club's annual pasta dinner.&nbsp; It's so much fun to see that everyone cleans up so well. John Bingham, better known as "The Penguin," was our guest speaker.&nbsp; I never laughed so much at one of these pasta dinners.&nbsp; He was hilarious. Sometimes that evening track club friends Michelle and Cathy were discussing PRs, and we all made a pact to break 2 hours.&nbsp; I've never made a pact to break a time barrier.&nbsp; I guess I'm committed.&nbsp; The good thing is that we didn't give ourselves a time frame to break 2 hours.&nbsp; Both Michelle and Cathy are within close reach of that goal, but I have my work cut out, even though it's not an impossible feat.&nbsp; I was close at one point, with an unofficial 13.1 mile training run clocking in at 2:02, and ( post surgery) official half marathon time of 2:13 and change.&nbsp; <br /><br />Saturday and race day eve, Jill&nbsp;<a href="http://runwithjill.blogspot.com/"> (Run With Jill)&nbsp; </a>came into San Diego and we planned to rendezvous for an early dinner at PF Changs.&nbsp; I know, not the most original place in town, but at least it was centrally located and relatively easy to get to, except for the unusually dense traffic that day at the mall that afternoon.&nbsp; Mary (<a href="http://www.therunninggreengirl.com/">Journey of a Running Green Girl</a>) and Jill's daughter Abbey also joined us.&nbsp; During the course of conversation, Jill mentioned that she would run with me.&nbsp; I was a little perplexed because I'm currently running the slowest I've EVER run due to on going fatigue issues, and Jill is faster than me - even at her slowest, but I wholeheartedly welcomed her company. No one has ever offered to run an entire half marathon race with me.&nbsp; Ever.<br /><br />Race day - Sunday morning, and my friend Rich is at our front door at about a quarter to 5 AM.&nbsp; I bribed Rich into driving us to the marathon starting area with a bag of whole bean coffee and the use of my car.&nbsp; I'm pretty much good to go, but as usual, Hubs is still fumbling around with something.&nbsp; We probably leave the house just a couple of minutes before 5, and shortly thereafter text Jill that we're on our way to pick her up at her hotel.&nbsp; Getting to the hotel and driving to the starting area was relatively seamless since we went the back way, and was way less congested than if we took the main route to the start.&nbsp;&nbsp; We had time for a photo op with the track club and a short warm up run, which I cut even shorter because I wasn't quite awake yet.&nbsp; Jill stayed with me.&nbsp; <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-My7geFsDtig/T9KldyW464I/AAAAAAAAEGk/ApPLdl58SjM/s1600/sdtc+2012.+with+jill.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-My7geFsDtig/T9KldyW464I/AAAAAAAAEGk/ApPLdl58SjM/s400/sdtc+2012.+with+jill.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />I didn't stick around for the track club stretch, I wanted to dump my stuff at bag check and find a port-o-potty.&nbsp; We lost hubs somewhere after the warm-up run since he ran the entire warm up run and did the group stretch, but I knew we'd see each other at the end of the race.&nbsp; <br /><br />Jill could not get over how many people there were.&nbsp; I don't think this was the largest San Diego Rock 'n' Roll event, but it was still pretty crowded.&nbsp; Even though Jill was slated for corral 3, she joined me in corral 10.&nbsp; Hubs was slated for corral 19.&nbsp; FYI - there were over 40 corrals.&nbsp; It wasn't long until we were off and going.&nbsp; Jill asked if the crowd would ever thin out.&nbsp; It became a little less crowded as we went, but by crowd standards it was the usual busy SDRNR race.&nbsp;&nbsp; Jill kept me posted with pace, which was fine at first, but I became fatigued and I just didn't want to know any more.&nbsp; I wasn't racing, I was just checking off half marathon #19. Jill stopped to take photos along the way and easily caught up with me since I was going THAT slow. There was a rare port-o-potty stop for me somewhere into mile 6, but it only took a minute and a half off of my already slow pace, so no major loss there.&nbsp; Jill did a lot of sight seeing on the race and also notice that there wasn't a lot of rock 'n' roll music being played until we passed a band playing "Freebird." &nbsp; During the race I was trying to spot my cousin's wife who was going to be somewhere into mile 7 cheering on her running group. Apparently, I did "see" her, but she had a straw hat and sunglasses on, and I didn't recognize her.&nbsp; I later found out through Facebook that she was there and I looked right at her, but she said nothing to acknowledge me.&nbsp; She probably thought I was some crazy runner until after I passed.&nbsp; Ah, well.&nbsp; A really cool thing to note is that one of my track club friends, Kelly, was running people in at the end.&nbsp; She ran with Jill and I for about a half mile stretch before the finish line.&nbsp; Kelly is pretty chatty anyway, so it was fun to hear her talk and tell corny jokes. <i>(Q - What did the doe say when she came out of the woods?&nbsp; A - "I'll never do that for two bucks again!"&nbsp; LOL.)</i>&nbsp; After a few turns towards South Shores Park, just adjacent to Sea World,&nbsp; I sort of picked up the pace for the finish, just to make it look good at the end.&nbsp; Jill was right with me.&nbsp; We clocked in at 2:33:01.<br /><br />Done.&nbsp; Check.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-93wgvI_-ui4/T9LDS8B32II/AAAAAAAAEG8/nnLD9R-nmjE/s1600/SDRNRHM+2012+medal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-93wgvI_-ui4/T9LDS8B32II/AAAAAAAAEG8/nnLD9R-nmjE/s400/SDRNRHM+2012+medal.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br />The race weather was rather humid and a little warm, but once we stopped running the marine layer remained and cooled the temperatures way down.&nbsp; For whatever reason the race peeps were being stingy with mylar blankets. We made our way through the usual post race medals, photo ops, water and food.&nbsp; We still had to wait for Hubs who insisted on getting his free beer.&nbsp; Jill was cold and left her jacket in the car with Rich.&nbsp; Luckily I had an extra jacket in my bag.&nbsp; As soon as Hubs was done we walked to meet Rich at the volunteer parking lot area and took Jill back to the hotel, then we weaved our way back home around road closures.&nbsp; (I live near the marathon route.)<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0oEoLyA3Y2w/T9LDneCma_I/AAAAAAAAEHE/LvJr6d7s0mE/s1600/sdtc+2012.+with+jill+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0oEoLyA3Y2w/T9LDneCma_I/AAAAAAAAEHE/LvJr6d7s0mE/s320/sdtc+2012.+with+jill+2.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At the SDTC tent.&nbsp; There is a chilly Jill behind me!</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Certainly, there are a lot of details that I left out, but each race is definitely a learning experience.&nbsp; I've learned that running an entire race with a friend did help me.&nbsp; I was so ready to walk somewhere before mile 10, but with Jill next to me I kept running, albeit slow. I've&nbsp; also realized that I still have it within myself to have faster, better races because I was able to pick up the pace at the very end.&nbsp; I just need to get back to basics and get strong again.&nbsp; I also need to work on getting excited about races.&nbsp; Yes, the head isn't quite there, either. Once I get my head and body in sync, then I'll be back at it.&nbsp; I believe I have a sub 2 hour half marathon in me, still. &nbsp;&nbsp; <br /><br />I also realized that I got out of the habit of taking pictures.&nbsp; I guess I had just assumed that someone would always be taking pictures, which IS true, but there were a lot of missed photo ops from my perspective. <br /><br />This race was also my last race of age 52,&nbsp; as I always celebrate my birthday about a week after the San Diego Rock 'n' Roll event.&nbsp; I'm looking forward to 53 and for all the exiting things life has to offer.<br /><br /><b>Song from Wednesday, June 6, 2012:</b><br />Whatever Will Be Will Be - Doris Day<br /><div style="color: #e69138;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><span style="color: #e69138; font-size: x-large;"><b>PEACE</b></span><br /><br />PS:&nbsp; I went and signed up for a fun run, not a race, but it's<a href="http://thecolorrun.com/"> The Color Run</a> in San Diego, November 2, 2012.Irenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03163803961338323135noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12534874.post-88279153836540520912012-06-06T15:54:00.000-07:002012-06-06T15:54:00.586-07:00What Ever Will Be Will BeI feel as if I've lived a few months in the past couple of weeks.&nbsp; Bear with me. This is a be a two post, two parter, maybe even three, well, just two.&nbsp; <br /><br /><b>PART 1 </b><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EuQk4lOhnNg/S-jHIeOoytI/AAAAAAAADXo/Pfqp7nv3sbs/s1600/Gloria+1954+001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EuQk4lOhnNg/S-jHIeOoytI/AAAAAAAADXo/Pfqp7nv3sbs/s200/Gloria+1954+001.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>During Mother's day week I changed my Facebook profile picture to my mother's picture, as I've done before.&nbsp; This time it received more reaction and, because of that photo, I was able to reconnect with several long lost cousins who are scatter throughout the United States and Europe.&nbsp; The timing of that photo bringing long lost family together could not have been more perfect due to the set of circumstances that followed. <br /><br />One of my closer cousins had called and wanted to see our aunt who was in a care facility for Alzheimer's patients.&nbsp; My cousin was without any transportation and asked me to drive her to visit our aunt.&nbsp; I didn't hesitate for a second, and we went to visit my aunt the very next day.&nbsp; My aunt appeared mostly non-responsive, until my cousin began singing to her in Spanish.&nbsp; I'm not sure if it was a reflex or if my aunt recognized the song, but her eyes welled up with tears.&nbsp; We spent time talking to her, stoking her hair and arms, and said a prayer for her.&nbsp; We probably spent about an hour just being with her.&nbsp; We noticed that my aunt was well taken care of, and that the staff seemed very friendly and caring.&nbsp; They even had a resident cat, who visited us as we talked to my aunt.&nbsp; We knew she was nearing the end and asked her to say hello to everyone in heaven for us. <br /><br />My aunt passed away two days later.<br /><br />My aunt Catalina was the last surviving sibling of my mother.&nbsp; She was (technically) the youngest.&nbsp; There was the eldest sister, Concepcion, who was only a couple of years older,&nbsp; then my mother, Gloria, was born in January 1929 and Catalina and her twin sister Lucia were born in December of that very same year.&nbsp; The sisters were extremely close.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2vjrgQKKKeo/T8_dt5PzxhI/AAAAAAAAEGY/-kezaaFvOD0/s1600/tia+luli+wedding+photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2vjrgQKKKeo/T8_dt5PzxhI/AAAAAAAAEGY/-kezaaFvOD0/s320/tia+luli+wedding+photo.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lucia's wedding photo.&nbsp; My mom is seated at the front left and Catalina is seated at the front right.&nbsp; We can't figure where Concepcion is. </td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />My aunt Catalina or "Tia Cata" (as we called her) was the jokester of the family.&nbsp; In photos her family found for the service, she was the one who had the silly expressions. Her own kids remembered her practical jokes.&nbsp; She also loved to be surrounded with music.&nbsp; Even though her body was taken over by Alzheimer's, her care takers said she would always hum or sing certain songs, like "que sera, sera, whatever will be will be."&nbsp; One of my cousins would visit her at the care facility with his iPod and headphones so that she could listen to music.&nbsp; The music would brighten her day, and she would perk right up. <br /><br />We attended the visitation and funeral services, which were very understated, but lovely.&nbsp; My cousins had white balloons to release at the grave-site service, which was quite touching. <br /><br />We reunited with stories from our mothers, and what we remembered growing up.&nbsp; We all remember the story our mothers told us about when they were young teens -- when a man broke into their house with ill intent, and the man had no chance against four tough sisters who beat him up in self defense. It's not that the break in or ill intent was funny, it's that the sisters had a reputation for toughness after that.&nbsp; We all laughed that our mothers used the threat of a house slipper&nbsp; (or "chancla")&nbsp; for discipline.&nbsp; You never wanted to see that "chancla" being thrown at you for any reason.<br /><br />The weird thing about reuniting with long lost family&nbsp; members is that you realize, even with all the differences, is that how we all looked related.&nbsp; I know, duh, but their kids looked like my kids and my brother's and sister's kids as well.&nbsp; Even though we were together under somewhat sad circumstances, we had a good time reuniting, and it was as if we didn't miss a beat.&nbsp; We just melded as if so many years had not slipped by.&nbsp; My brother in law even commented how easy it was to be around each other, which doesn't always happen when you reunite with family.&nbsp; Perhaps our mother's did something right for us to all get along so well. <br /><br />There were other commonalities.&nbsp; Some of my cousins participate in endurance sports such as tris, half marathons, obstacle course races, and Crossfit, etc.&nbsp; Another cousin's wife runs and runs long distance races, such as marathons and half marathons and lives in the area. &nbsp; I had no idea.&nbsp; <br /><br />It's funny how Facebook had started as somewhat of a novelty for me, but being able to reconnect with family has been a bonus.&nbsp; I'm glad this hall happened before my aunt's passing.&nbsp; I just hope we can keep in touch.<br /><br /><b>Song from Friday, May 18, 2012: </b><br />&nbsp;Changes - David Bowie<br /><br /><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: x-large;"><b>PEACE</b></span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Irenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03163803961338323135noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12534874.post-54238950307943779572012-05-18T11:58:00.000-07:002012-05-18T11:58:57.849-07:00Good Day Sunshine<b>CHANGES</b><br /><br />Earlier this month my grandson participated in his First Holy Communion.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TML4IAVcWxE/T7aEwZZDMFI/AAAAAAAAEFQ/ykdj-G_tBxo/s1600/004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TML4IAVcWxE/T7aEwZZDMFI/AAAAAAAAEFQ/ykdj-G_tBxo/s320/004.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Before the procession in front of&nbsp; <a href="http://church./">.</a><a href="http://www.stmarymagonline.org/picturetourhome.html">St. Mary Magdaline Church</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br />He was apprehensive and nervous about it, and, as he walked down the aisle with the other children, he looked like he wanted to hide because the church was full.&nbsp; He's so different from my two kids, who always wanted to be on stage and the center of attention.&nbsp; Evan wanted to just blend in.&nbsp; <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RcMpTgtgq00/T7aFF81yOmI/AAAAAAAAEFg/jTUbZyPiXMk/s1600/006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RcMpTgtgq00/T7aFF81yOmI/AAAAAAAAEFg/jTUbZyPiXMk/s320/006.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Deliberately NOT looking at us for a photo.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5aRc7ZUZRvQ/T7aE9m4V-9I/AAAAAAAAEFY/98OXAvbx2q8/s1600/007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5aRc7ZUZRvQ/T7aE9m4V-9I/AAAAAAAAEFY/98OXAvbx2q8/s320/007.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Whew!&nbsp; He got through it. </td></tr></tbody></table><br />More changes include my daughter and grandson are (finally) moving.&nbsp; They're moving much closer to the college, which really isn't all that far away, but she felt like it was time to be on their own.&nbsp; I really do want them to be on their own, but I'll probably go through some days of really missing them.&nbsp; I was hoping she would move out AFTER graduating in December, but apartments close to the college are more available after graduations in June.&nbsp; <br /><br />My final race for the year is in a mere two weeks and I am anything but ready for it.&nbsp; There has been a slew of upper respiratory illnesses going around that have taken people out for weeks.&nbsp;&nbsp; My entire office came down with some form of this crappy illness, so has every member of my household.&nbsp; I was even put on antibiotics, but it's taken me several weeks to bounce back.&nbsp; My running has suffered.&nbsp; A 6 mile run should normally be a nice little jaunt through the neighborhood or along the bay, but it's a struggle.&nbsp; I'll make it to around mile 4 or 5 then have to walk/run.&nbsp;&nbsp; It feels as if I haven't been running in months, not a couple of weeks.&nbsp; When I initially signed up for the San Diego Rock 'n' Roll half marathon, I was hoping to gain some speed and be somewhere between 2 hours and 2:15.&nbsp; I dislike not having a time goal, but it is what it is.&nbsp; I now have no time goal, and, as much as I dislike this, my goal is to just finish.&nbsp; I kind of feel like just finishing is a cop out, but that's the reality.&nbsp; I was hoping to finish this race with a bang, but settling for just finishing will have to suffice.<br /><br />"Final race for the year" doesn't mean I'm giving up running, it just means I'm taking a break from racing.&nbsp; As much as I try to stay on course with training schedules, my body isn't cooperating.&nbsp; I'm progressively getting slower and the fatigue can be overwhelming -- and this does absolutely nothing for my psyche. I'm going to switch gears and perhaps get more into where I first started, which was weight training.&nbsp; I need to start from scratch and build up strength again.&nbsp; I might also look at a few other options, such as yoga classes and maybe even get more into swimming.&nbsp; Don't talk to me about getting on a bike because I'm not there yet, nor can I afford the expense right now.<span style="color: red;">*</span> Someday the bike thing will happen, just not this year, not now. <br /><br />Remember those brand new <a href="http://magazinesmiles.blogspot.com/2012/04/come-out-and-play.html">On Cloudrunners I talked about in my last post</a>?&nbsp; I took them out on a very hilly trail run.&nbsp; I was supposed to fit in 8 miles, but it took me longer to navigate down hill.&nbsp; This run was EFFING hard.&nbsp; I can't figure out how to post the <a href="http://www.dailymile.com/people/IreneRuns/entries/15152993">elevation chart off of Daily Mile</a>, but, trust me, it was killer. This is what that trail did to my new shoes:<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4kgBwd0qb50/T7aRTTObw8I/AAAAAAAAEFs/fDAI0MKuhdE/s1600/001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4kgBwd0qb50/T7aRTTObw8I/AAAAAAAAEFs/fDAI0MKuhdE/s320/001.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My On Cloudrunners don't look so new anymore.</td></tr></tbody></table>I really like these test shoes and I hope they clean up OK. I have yet to find a local retailer who sells these.<br /><br />Finally, I'll leave you with a rare moment, where my little family is all together on Mother's Day. It was a very good day. <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oVOehUWn0sk/T7aUiuSIKqI/AAAAAAAAEF4/foW5K1w3xTk/s1600/012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oVOehUWn0sk/T7aUiuSIKqI/AAAAAAAAEF4/foW5K1w3xTk/s320/012.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Notice how we're all looking in different directions?&nbsp; (Deeper meanings, perhaps?)</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b>Song from Thursday, April 26, 2012:</b><br />Come Out and Play - The Offspring<br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b style="color: #6fa8dc;">PEACE</b></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: red;">*</span>I'm the type of person who takes something on completely, and getting on a bike the way I would want to requires an expense that would take away from house repairs.</span>Irenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03163803961338323135noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12534874.post-38262980546462456262012-04-26T15:23:00.000-07:002012-05-10T19:21:04.075-07:00Come Out and Play<b>RANDOM</b><br /><br />The last time I ran was supposed to be a 10 miler with the track club on my day off.&nbsp; I was looking forward to it&nbsp; and we had perfect running weather, meaning overcast skies and temps in the low to mid 60s.&nbsp; I woke up that morning not feeling right, but a lot of times I'll get past that "not right" feeling and run OK.&nbsp; I only made it a little more than 2 miles before I had to turn around and walk most of the way back.&nbsp; I ended up in bed from the time I returned home until the following Tuesday when I decided I needed to go into work and produce a paycheck.&nbsp; Wednesday I had a session at RU and that was difficult at best.&nbsp; Thursday it's a visit to the doctor's office.&nbsp; I came home with antibiotics, Rx nose spray, a netti pot, and a big bottle of Tylenol.<br /><br />I hope with all this rest that my IT band will ease up. It's better than it was a month ago, but still reminds me it's there.<br /><br />I was asked to review the book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1449409865"><b>Train Like a Mother</b></a>&nbsp; - <i>How to Get Across Any Finish Line and Not Lose Your Family, Job, or Sanity</i> by Dimity McDowell and Sarah Bowen Shea, authors of Run Like a Mother.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4RBnFgXdcMo/T5mx90_ixrI/AAAAAAAAEE0/qNot5GtlfBI/s1600/Train+Like+a+Mother.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4RBnFgXdcMo/T5mx90_ixrI/AAAAAAAAEE0/qNot5GtlfBI/s320/Train+Like+a+Mother.jpg" width="249" /></a></div><br /><br />I thoroughly enjoyed this book!&nbsp; I honestly didn't want to put a lot of preconceptions into this book before reading it because I've often been disappointed with running books written for women.&nbsp; This book is written with real life in mind, a healthy sense of humor, and serious support and concern when needed.&nbsp; It's as if you're getting training advice from your very knowledgeable running friends who know what it's like to fit in a training schedule and juggling kids, school, family, work, etc.&nbsp; I like that they go over things that everyone talks about, but nobody ever addresses in other training manuals, such as going commando, race goals, running music, women's nutrition, etc.&nbsp; The training schedules are very straight forward and not too technical -- they explain everything as if they're talking to you without being condescending.&nbsp; I liked that there were little reminders to not skip a particular workout and get a babysitter. Both authors give their spin on explaining things, which I liked, because no two experiences are the same.&nbsp; This book is a good read for the new runner with constructive tips on how to get started, as well as the seasoned runner with chapters affirming that what you're doing (or thinking) is actually right on par, or that you might need to change a few things. This book can be read in a weekend and is a good "go to" or reference book.&nbsp; If I gave stars to books, I'd give this a 5 out of 5 stars.<br /><br />I'm also reviewing another pair of running shoes.&nbsp; This time it's <b><a href="http://www.on-running.com/">On Cloud</a></b> - Cloudrunner.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wFjVyL3atyM/T5m6CvVhWAI/AAAAAAAAEFA/8lDpR1vOAZ8/s1600/on+cloud+cloudrunner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wFjVyL3atyM/T5m6CvVhWAI/AAAAAAAAEFA/8lDpR1vOAZ8/s1600/on+cloud+cloudrunner.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yes, purple and fuchsia, but I actually like the colors, which aren't too foo-foo.&nbsp; Photo from the On Cloud Facebook page.</td></tr></tbody></table>I've never heard of this brand until I received them.&nbsp; They're engineered in Switzerland and relatively new on the running shoe scene.&nbsp; I've received them a week ago, and haven't run in them since I got sick, but they're very comfortable.&nbsp; My only concern is that they might be too cushy, which might aggravate my plantar faciitis.&nbsp; I have some miles to make up next week, and I'll be able to judge on how well they ride then.<br /><br />This weekend is the La Jolla Half Marathon and 5k, which I am happily not running in, but my brother and sister-in-law will be here to participate in the 5k.&nbsp; My sister, the one who concocted the whole running weekend has backed out, which sort of throws things off. My sister has participated in only two, maybe three 5ks in the past 5 years or so.&nbsp; She likes La Jolla because she doesn't really race it.&nbsp; She's more of a walk/runner.&nbsp; That's all fine and good because she can enjoy the scenery.&nbsp; I personally don't like this race.&nbsp; I like the course on my own terms because it is a pretty course that goes along parts of La Jolla Shores and ends near La Jolla Cove.&nbsp; If I'm in a 5k race, well, I'm in to RACE and try to edge out that lady in the red tech shirt just ahead of me. I'm far from being 5k race ready at this point,&nbsp; my IT band aches just thinking about it,&nbsp; and running La Jolla, with the steep hills and bumpy running surface for the last mile, does not bode well in my mind.&nbsp; Hubs and I are planning to be at the finish line to see if my bro can score a podium finish.&nbsp; My sister-in-law has been running for a long while, but sort of new to racing.&nbsp; I'm looking forward to seeing how they fare on Sunday, then head out for brunch.&nbsp; <br /><br />In a little more than a month is the San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon/Half Marathon.&nbsp; I'm not 100% certain, but I think this will be my last race for the year.&nbsp; I almost put in for the lottery for the Nike Women's event in San Francisco in October for 2012, but I reminded myself that I do need the break, and would need to continue training and be half marathon ready.&nbsp; No to Nike, and probably most other races until January 2013.<br /><br />This year will be the 30th anniversary of <b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Title_IX">Title IX</a></b>.&nbsp; Even though Title IX happened in 1972, I personally did not see any changes until I was in high school in the mid to late 70s. It also took my parents longer than that to be on board, even though my high school finally had girls track team started in my Junior year. There was no support (or transportation) to stay with the team. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://1.gvt0.com/vi/AQ_XSHpIbZE/0.jpg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/AQ_XSHpIbZE&fs=1&source=uds" /> <param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /> <embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/AQ_XSHpIbZE&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object></div><br />Because of Title IX, my niece was able to participate on the high school wrestling team and sparred against boys and girls in her weight class.&nbsp; <br /><br /><b><br /></b><br /><b>Song from Saturday, April 14, 2012:</b><br />Part of Me - Katy Perry<br /><br /><span style="color: orange; font-size: x-large;"><b>PEACE</b></span><br /><br />Irenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03163803961338323135noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12534874.post-13337164990732255732012-04-14T16:44:00.000-07:002012-04-15T08:36:59.054-07:00Part of Me<span style="font-family: inherit;">Several weeks ago,<a href="http://hefferblog.blogspot.com/"> <b><span style="color: purple;">Cindi</span> </b></a>tagged me for a meme. Since I haven't blogged in a while, I figured this would be good fodder until I gather up my thoughts for a more personal blog post. <br />&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Here are the rules</span>:<br /><br /><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Random Eleven Rules:</span></b><br /><ol><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Post these rules</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">You must post 11 random things about yourself</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Answer&nbsp;the&nbsp;questions&nbsp;set for you in their post</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Tag 11 people (can't be the person who tagged you)</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Create 11 new&nbsp;questions&nbsp;for the people you tag</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Go to their blog and tell them you've tagged them (Tag! You're it!)</span></li></ol><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">11&nbsp; Really Random Things About Me:</span></b><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DNk1-uB9EUQ/T4n41h2NAhI/AAAAAAAAEEg/ViOgB0JzQOg/s1600/run-fit_0722_crop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DNk1-uB9EUQ/T4n41h2NAhI/AAAAAAAAEEg/ViOgB0JzQOg/s320/run-fit_0722_crop.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">1. I have workout dyslexia.&nbsp; No, not a medical diagnosis, but something I sort of coined. Certain exercises just don't translate well when switching sides from right side to left, and visa-versa.&nbsp; I tend to get the arms and/or foot placements wrong trying to do the opposite of what I just did.&nbsp; I've also noticed that,&nbsp; unless you're a dancer or really coordinated, this happens frequently.&nbsp; I see this phenomenon happen to others when I work out.&nbsp; It's not just me.&nbsp; PS... That's me on the far left side of the picture, front row, not having a WD moment. </span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">2.&nbsp; The songs on my run playlist aren't necessarily songs I would listen to otherwise.&nbsp; Some songs are just better for running, even if those songs are head-banger heavy metal, salsa, and ska.&nbsp; :)</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">3.&nbsp; My bedroom used to be a garage.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Mt9lrVagxB0/T4n6egYD9QI/AAAAAAAAEEo/XgaRCmI6tXI/s1600/003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Mt9lrVagxB0/T4n6egYD9QI/AAAAAAAAEEo/XgaRCmI6tXI/s320/003.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">4.&nbsp; I have <b><span style="color: purple;">"</span><a href="http://www.foot.com/info/cond_mortons_toe.jsp" style="color: purple;">Morton's Toe</a><span style="color: purple;">."</span></b>&nbsp; This has nothing to do with my last name, it's when your second toe is longer than your big toe. </span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">5.&nbsp;&nbsp; I like the way polished finger nails look, but with my job a manicure lasts about an hour upon entering the office.&nbsp; If I can keep hangnails down to a minimum, then it's all good.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">6. I bought art supplies last year that I have yet to use.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">7.&nbsp; I have pierced ears, two holes on each side.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">8.&nbsp; The first car I bought with my own money was a used avocado green 1970-something Datsun 510, 4 door sedan.&nbsp; I think I paid something like $800.00&nbsp; for it in 1980.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">9.&nbsp; I lived at home with my parents until I got married.&nbsp; I was 24.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">10. When Hubs and I go out to dinner, I usually order something that looks like a "man" meal, and he usually orders something that looks like a low cal "girly" meal.&nbsp; The servers always assume wrong and serve us each other's orders.</span><br /><b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b><br /><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">11.&nbsp; </span></b><span style="font-family: inherit;">I'm currently hooked on the<span style="color: purple;"> </span><b style="color: purple;"><a href="http://www.thesamlivecast.com/">Sam the Cooking Guy Livecast</a></b><span style="color: purple;">. </span>It's live, uncensored, uncut, unedited, and they don't always talk about cooking.&nbsp; F-bombs might fly, food gets spilled, outside noises occur (like house alarms),&nbsp; and a lot of other unexpected issues such as losing my internet connection, but that's part of the attraction.&nbsp; The show is "livecasted" from Sam's own kitchen.&nbsp; You can comment during the show via <b style="color: purple;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/samthecookingguy">Facebook</a></b><span style="color: purple;">,</span> and a lot of times they talk about what people are commenting on.&nbsp; There is always food being made at some point in the livecast, usually something pretty easy, but impressive. If I miss a show I can always watch the podcast a few days later. </span><br /><b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b><br /><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="color: #222222; line-height: 22px;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">My 11 Random Questions from Cindi:</span></b></div><div><ol><li style="color: #222222; line-height: 22px;"><i style="color: blue;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">Who was the last person you randomly ran</span></i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="color: blue;"> into at a race or during a long run?</span>&nbsp; </i>Wendy from track club - While running at Mission Bay Park.&nbsp; She was running in the opposite direction. By the way, Wendy is running in the Boston Marathon on Monday. :) </span></li><li><i><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 22px;"><span style="color: blue;">What was the last&nbsp;embarrassing&nbsp;thing you did?</span> </span></span></span></i><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 22px;">So many...&nbsp; Hmmm.&nbsp; Well, my house is currently embarrassing.&nbsp; It's not anything I did, but we need a roof and can't get a new one at this second, so Hubs patched it, but it looks very ghetto, especially from the front.&nbsp; My house also needs paint and new landscaping.&nbsp; Actually, It needs to be bulldozed down and redone.&nbsp; I sometimes feel like I'm living at Sanford &amp; Son's junk yard.&nbsp; Perhaps it's not that extreme, but I never imagined living in a house that needed so much repair, especially being married to an architect. I really LOVE the location,&nbsp; the property is awesome, and that this was where my grandparents retired.&nbsp; </span></span></span></li><li><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; line-height: 22px;"><i style="color: blue;">Do you wear underwear when you run? Why or why not?</i><span style="color: blue;"> </span>Most of the time no, because most running shorts/skirts I wear come with built in boy shorts, and running tights are so thick that there is no point to underwear, unless it's super cold, then it's athletic type of underwear. </span></li><li><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; line-height: 22px;"><i style="color: blue;">Where is the strangest place you've ended up having to pee during a long run, ride, or race?</i> In the bushes at Balboa Park in the canyon adjacent to 6th Avenue with many others before one of the Rock 'n' Roll races.&nbsp; The porta potty lines were too long and I could NOT wait.</span></li><li><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 22px;"><i style="color: blue;">Which color porta potty do you prefer?</i> Blue?&nbsp; I never thought about it before. </span></span></span></li><li><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 22px;"><i style="color: blue;">What was the last random object you saw on your last run?</i>&nbsp; Glitter. </span></span></span></li><li><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; line-height: 22px;"><i style="color: blue;">What is your favorite breakfast?</i> I love anything breakfast-y. I love fresh fruit, pancakes, waffles, French toast, eggs and bacon, huevos rancheros, breakfast burritos, cereal, Pop Tarts, Cinnabons...&nbsp; Breakfasts with big carbs rock. </span></li><li><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 22px;"><i style="color: blue;">The Voice or American Idol?</i> The Voice.</span></span></li><li><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 22px;"><i style="color: blue;">What was the last TV show you watched?</i> <a href="http://www.rickbayless.com/tv/season8/">Rick Bayless -Mexico, One plate at a Time</a>, airing on PBS. It was the episode when he went to visit Ensenada's wineries.&nbsp; </span></span></li><li><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 22px;"><i><span style="color: blue;">What are you doing tomorrow?</span> </i>Sleeping in.&nbsp; It's Sunday. </span></span></li></ol></div>I'm not sure who to tag next, since it looks like just about everyone has been tagged. If you feel the need to do this, go ahead, and just use Cindi's questions, since those are pretty good questions. I'm also being lazy.&nbsp; <br /><br /><b>Song from Wednesday, March 14, 2012:</b><br />We Found Love - Rihanna, featuring Calvin Harris<br /><br /><span style="color: blue; font-size: x-large;"><b>PEACE</b></span></div></div>Irenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03163803961338323135noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12534874.post-48939675244429980952012-03-14T16:30:00.000-07:002012-03-21T14:54:46.894-07:00We Found Love<br /><span style="font-size: large;">Half Marathon #18 is in the books</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">The <b><a href="http://www.sdhalfmarathon.com/">Inaugural San Diego Half Marathon on March 11, 2012</a></b> just kind of crept up on me.&nbsp; There wasn't a lot of planning involved for me, mostly because I already had a few half marathons scheduled and this would be one more.&nbsp; What's another half marathon?&nbsp;&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">In my last post I had mentioned something about pulling a muscle in my right leg. It turned out to be an IT band issue. WTF? I did not run in the Sue Krenn 15k scheduled for March 3.&nbsp; A simple 2 mile jog to the water station where I volunteered at was difficult.&nbsp; With all of the injuries I've sustained over the past few years, I have become a bit cautious, but I did not think this soreness warranted a trip to the doctor's office. I did have a couple of visits scheduled with my PT for training, and I'd figure he'd help me out.</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">The Friday before the half marathon I was still feeling rather sore. I was worried that I'd have to skip out on the INAUGURAL San Diego Half Marathon or walk most of it.&nbsp; I had a session with my PT scheduled for that morning, but I worked with an assistant.&nbsp; At the end of my session, my PT said he would do some assisted stretches.&nbsp; Little did I know that, after the stretches, he would pull a chiropractic<span style="color: red;"></span> type of maneuver and pop my my hip.&nbsp; Suddenly, birds were chirping, the sun was shining, the angels sang, and I felt like skipping.&nbsp; He said it looked like my leg was jammed up into my hip.&nbsp; I felt so much relief, but I was still sore from being out of place for two weeks.&nbsp; I even made a special trip to Road Runner Sports for CWX compression capris to wear on race day, just in case</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Saturday afternoon is when Hubs and I went down to Petco Park to retrieve our bib numbers and swag.</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--zFagQMPkqo/T2EP-j2axhI/AAAAAAAAEC0/2-LLkiG_K5I/s1600/petco+park.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--zFagQMPkqo/T2EP-j2axhI/AAAAAAAAEC0/2-LLkiG_K5I/s320/petco+park.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YlNifpkjA2w/T2ELsuVtNVI/AAAAAAAAECc/31xTN1VTODg/s1600/003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YlNifpkjA2w/T2ELsuVtNVI/AAAAAAAAECc/31xTN1VTODg/s320/003.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">The race expo was pretty uneventful, but that's probably a good thing.&nbsp; No cluster f***.&nbsp; The only difficulty I had was waking to Petco Park from where we parked, and I was still feeling sore, but far from being in pain.&nbsp; I was a tad bit concerned, but I wasn't exactly wearing comfy shoes since I went from work to the expo. </span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Kind of to the last minute, my sister and&nbsp; brother in law called and said they'd be in town and wanted us to rendezvous with them in the hot tub at their hotel that same night.&nbsp; I almost said no, but the idea of a hot tub to relax my muscles sounded pretty good, even though we'd get home late. I think the hot tub helped.</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Sunday morning Hubs and I got up at the crack of dark, even though there was a time change, it's still dark at 4:30 am.&nbsp; For whatever reason I could not figure out what shirt to wear.&nbsp; I only have what seems like a zillion tech shirts.&nbsp; I even had running garb pre planned and laid out, but my thoughts were fuzzy at 4:30 am.&nbsp; I finally settled on a lightweight , long sleeved tech shirt. From races past we've learned that it's good to have our son drop us off&nbsp; the race site to avoid parking issues and crowds.&nbsp; We could have driven ourselves and parked on the street.&nbsp; There were no huge crowds or chaos.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">We saw several track club friends as we walked to Petco Park, but still no cluster f***.&nbsp; The pre-race vibe was very chill and happy.&nbsp; Port-o-Potty lines were VERY short.&nbsp; We were able to use the restrooms inside Petco Park as well.&nbsp; Gear check was a breeze.&nbsp; Event photographers were everywhere.&nbsp; There was a pretty good contingent of us from the track club, and most of us waited for the race to start together.&nbsp; Even though we had assigned waves, we all started in wave 5.&nbsp; The race started right outside of Petco Park.&nbsp; I set my music and started my iSmoothRun app, and I was off.&nbsp; It was really cool to start a race with so many people I knew.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lVKl2eVQoRk/T2EAfPReTwI/AAAAAAAAECU/XMyUlHU-KuQ/s320/San+diego+half+maraton+3+11+2012+start.jpg" width="320" /></div><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">The route was mostly scenic. &nbsp; Click <b><a href="http://www.sdhalfmarathon.com/the-course/half-marathon/">HERE</a> </b>to see highlights of the route.&nbsp; This is why I love being a runner in San Diego. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">I ran the first 6 miles with track club friend Kate.&nbsp; This was purely a fluke, but we paced each other for those 6 miles, which was nice. We even have a couple of cheesy race photos together. I'm buying those.&nbsp; Somewhere after mile 6, Kate must have really warmed up, and she went way ahead. &nbsp; I kept my pace because of my IT band issue, but it didn't bother me until the end of the race.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Before the race everyone was anticipating the hill on Washington St, which comes at around mile 9.&nbsp; It was slow going for me on that hill, but I kept running form.&nbsp; I only walked a bit just prior to that hill, right after the Gu and water station, there was a much steeper, but shorter hill - about a block long.&nbsp; </span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">The last three miles of the race were mostly downhill, past Balboa Park on 6th Ave.&nbsp; It was nice taking the down hill on 6th, making that home stretch feel somewhat victorious. </span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">As we turned the corner into Petco Park, and went through a tunnel, we found ourselves in the outfield behind third base, with about 200 meters to the finish line, near home plate.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Yf_7OU1e6Dw/T2ERsohv_FI/AAAAAAAAEC8/HzaDxiOW_r0/s1600/San+diego+half+maraton+3+11+2012+finsh+line.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Yf_7OU1e6Dw/T2ERsohv_FI/AAAAAAAAEC8/HzaDxiOW_r0/s320/San+diego+half+maraton+3+11+2012+finsh+line.jpg" width="220" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: large;">I was able to bring it for the last 200 meters and sprinted in.&nbsp; I'm not sure if that made a difference, but it felt good to shift gears at the end.&nbsp; My offcial race time was 2:24:11, which is not bad, especially since I was allowing myself time for the cranky IT band.&nbsp; I was figuring 2:30 to 2:40.&nbsp; The IT band was done and I was a little limpy. A volunteer asked me if I was OK and needed assistance, but I really was fine.&nbsp; I guess I still tilt.&nbsp; I was so consumed with trying to shut off the iSmoothRun app that I almost forgot about the medal.&nbsp; Something really cool, that I didn't expect, was that we received our medals from representatives of the military.&nbsp; I will never forget having my medal placed around my neck by a Marine.</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-T8LeRWECymk/T2EUTmRgEcI/AAAAAAAAEDM/RIk4ms2mqsU/s1600/san+diego+half+marathon+3+11+2012+marines.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-T8LeRWECymk/T2EUTmRgEcI/AAAAAAAAEDM/RIk4ms2mqsU/s320/san+diego+half+marathon+3+11+2012+marines.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UhTG9-2Jts4/T2EUfIoUDoI/AAAAAAAAEDU/CU9z6qt2pL8/s1600/san+diego+half+marathon+3+11+2012+navy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UhTG9-2Jts4/T2EUfIoUDoI/AAAAAAAAEDU/CU9z6qt2pL8/s320/san+diego+half+marathon+3+11+2012+navy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: large;">It was pretty cool to walk on the field at Petco Park.</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-egl9baV0X6E/T2EPPL09o9I/AAAAAAAAECs/01KnQSYt2co/s1600/San+diego+half+maraton+3+11+2012+post+race+finsh+area+jpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-egl9baV0X6E/T2EPPL09o9I/AAAAAAAAECs/01KnQSYt2co/s320/San+diego+half+maraton+3+11+2012+post+race+finsh+area+jpg.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Post race I began to see friends.&nbsp; The mood was pure happiness, and it was easy to move about the finish area.&nbsp; Track club friend Kelly finished just mere seconds behind me, and we made our way to the food are, as we chatted about this race and future races. As we went back into halls of the ball park, we were greeted by the sweet aroma of freshly cut oranges.</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DYjKBEEsO5I/T2EVkH4jHjI/AAAAAAAAEDc/eaCMNG9jjb0/s1600/San+diego+half+maraton+3+11+2012+post+race+oranges.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DYjKBEEsO5I/T2EVkH4jHjI/AAAAAAAAEDc/eaCMNG9jjb0/s320/San+diego+half+maraton+3+11+2012+post+race+oranges.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These were the best oranges ever! Hubs thinks these were blood oranges. </td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: large;">After grabbing some sustenance, Kelly and I were greeted by another track club friend, Doreen, who was waiting to take photos of track club members as they walked by.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8xzrBNyvkDk/T2EWL9Vo27I/AAAAAAAAEDk/PfRMq4_D0cU/s1600/san+diego+half+marathon+3+11+2012+post+race+irene+and+kelly.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8xzrBNyvkDk/T2EWL9Vo27I/AAAAAAAAEDk/PfRMq4_D0cU/s320/san+diego+half+marathon+3+11+2012+post+race+irene+and+kelly.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo op with Kelly on the banana phone.&nbsp; I'm not sure what I was laughing about, but all's I know is how happy I was.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-809tnsKuurY/T2EYTmZNOaI/AAAAAAAAEDs/dhivMDX3W1U/s1600/006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-809tnsKuurY/T2EYTmZNOaI/AAAAAAAAEDs/dhivMDX3W1U/s320/006.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Doreen, unofficial track club photographer.&nbsp; Doreen took third in her age group!</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: large;">Since Hubs had not come through yet, I just parked myself next to Doreen and watch everyone come in. Finally, Hubs is done!</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bG_fVdO5Obc/T2EZGywlEDI/AAAAAAAAED0/5mke1OOumzI/s1600/007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bG_fVdO5Obc/T2EZGywlEDI/AAAAAAAAED0/5mke1OOumzI/s320/007.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hubs!</td></tr></tbody></table>After a quick visit to gear check, we grabbed a couple of beers and went into park to enjoy watching the final finishers, get some sun, hear what Meb had to say, and and listen to the band <a href="http://www.lifehousemusic.com/splash/">Lifehouse</a>. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B_FF9Q241iw/T2EdAf_Q9pI/AAAAAAAAED8/j1fQoOSIeck/s1600/011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B_FF9Q241iw/T2EdAf_Q9pI/AAAAAAAAED8/j1fQoOSIeck/s320/011.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">I would grade the San Diego Half Marathon an "A".&nbsp; It was one of the most organized races I've ever participated in.&nbsp; I think the fact that there were just under 6000 runners participating (not 40,000, like Las Vegas) made the race a lot more fun, and everything seemed so efficient.&nbsp; Everything flowed. Everything was well thought out. The course was great and there was plenty of water and electrolyte, and well briefed and informed volunteers. In the swag bag they even put a small baggie with pins for the bib and a card that reminded us of the time change.&nbsp; The medal is weighty and detailed.&nbsp; This medal is now one of my favorites:</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--mQ6ADrPCJk/T2EgvFOgKQI/AAAAAAAAEEE/8a0i_yljHJU/s1600/san+diego+half+marathon+3+11+2012+medal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="254" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--mQ6ADrPCJk/T2EgvFOgKQI/AAAAAAAAEEE/8a0i_yljHJU/s320/san+diego+half+marathon+3+11+2012+medal.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Ever since the the Las Vegas Rock 'n' Roll half marathon, I just haven't been feeling all that great about running.&nbsp; Running has been a struggle.&nbsp; Yes, some days have been good, but not "woo-hoo" great.&nbsp; My paces have slowed and I haven't been finding the joy that running gives me, that is, until this race.&nbsp; I found my love of running again.&nbsp; I hope it sticks. </span><br /><br /><b><br /></b><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Song from Wednesday, February 29, 2012:</b></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">One Moment in Time - Whitney Houston</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: x-large;"><b>PEACE</b></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>Most of the above photos are not mine.&nbsp; Props to Doreen, The San Diego Half Marathon Facebook page and from Howard Lipin - San Diego UT.&nbsp;&nbsp;</b></span><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></b></span>Irenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03163803961338323135noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12534874.post-41075930258885273122012-02-29T15:21:00.000-08:002012-02-29T19:47:23.838-08:00One Moment in Time<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Random</b></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">We've had actual weather activity here in San Diego. We had heavy rain, hail, thunder, lightning, and even snow in the higher elevations of the county.&nbsp; (OK, stop the eye-rolling --&nbsp; We're not used to extremes here. Even my fruit trees look disheveled.) Earlier in the week it was so cold that I woke up with both cats in our bed, curled up between us.&nbsp; Normally, having the cats in bed drives me nuts, but it must have been so cold that I didn't even notice...&nbsp;&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">We went to a live show for<a href="http://www.thecookingguy.com/"> <b>Sam the Cooking Guy</b></a>.&nbsp; I won free tickets from <a href="http://www.facebook.com/samthecookingguy?sk=app_116692181738298"><b>Sam's live webcast</b></a>, via Facebook, and it was sort of a last minute thing.&nbsp; We had been up since 5:00 am that day and were super tired.&nbsp; I'm amazed that Hubs didn't fall asleep during the show, but there was plenty to keep his interest piqued, especially the smells of food being cooked and prepared on stage.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nwLiKwyel6o/T06nE2SmWqI/AAAAAAAAEB8/Kt7MaQ6448M/s1600/Sam+Live+003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nwLiKwyel6o/T06nE2SmWqI/AAAAAAAAEB8/Kt7MaQ6448M/s320/Sam+Live+003.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: large;">The thing that impressed me about the show is that it was all family/friend based.&nbsp; His wife was giving out bottles of water to people waiting in line, his sons were filming and taking pictures, friends manned the ticket/will call booth, and his dogs socialized with the audience:</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TyA1DgSrPOs/T06jC-GSfCI/AAAAAAAAEBk/tjSME8sOdvc/s1600/Sam+Live+006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TyA1DgSrPOs/T06jC-GSfCI/AAAAAAAAEBk/tjSME8sOdvc/s320/Sam+Live+006.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Hailey the Golden Lab working the audience.</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: large;">I sort of geeked out and waited in line for Sam to sign <a href="http://www.thecookingguy.com/book/"><b>my book</b> </a>and have a photo op:</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-63LsVSV9Tb8/T06jnZHz7OI/AAAAAAAAEBs/CRtmajta8vQ/s1600/011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-63LsVSV9Tb8/T06jnZHz7OI/AAAAAAAAEBs/CRtmajta8vQ/s320/011.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I know.&nbsp; So cheesy.&nbsp; I look like I'm going to pass out - I was beyond tired and probably rattled on too much about whatever I don't remember saying&nbsp; when I met him.&nbsp; I probably came off as one of those weird/creepy&nbsp; fans.&nbsp; Oh well. &nbsp;&nbsp; He's a very cool and gracious guy, though.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Whjg9eHc0QE/T06kUbs4PwI/AAAAAAAAEB0/Rj_ZuepsNNI/s1600/014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Whjg9eHc0QE/T06kUbs4PwI/AAAAAAAAEB0/Rj_ZuepsNNI/s320/014.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Don't eat bad food!"</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Ever try to organize and end up with more disorganization? My son took it upon himself to clean out the shed at the back of the yard.&nbsp; We STILL have a lot of stuff from when my uncle lived here -- It's stuff nobody wanted. It's rather overwhelming.&nbsp; It's a matter of determining value, but at this point it all seems like junk to me.&nbsp; Yes, before we purchased this house there was an estate sale, and we all went through the house for items we all wanted, but when escrow went through, we ended up with all of the leftover crap. I'd rather blindly get rid of it all, not knowing the value of anything.&nbsp; It's all just stuff. We don't need it. My son did put a dent in getting rid of some things, but there's more of it.&nbsp; It's just a matter of time and effort to clear out everything, but having time to do so is the issue. It would take a few days to clear everything out, go through it all, trash some of it and take the rest to Goodwill.&nbsp; It's hard to do when you only have a few hours on a Saturday.</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">My son and I have been sharing the Honda Fit for a few weeks since the Exploder (AKA: 1998 Ford Explorer) was not working.&nbsp; The only thing good on the Exploder are the tires.&nbsp; I was afraid that car would actually explode.&nbsp; We needed another vehicle.&nbsp; Public transportation was not an option since you can't transport an entire drum kit on city bus. The intention was to buy a used Honda CRV, a couple of years old with low miles.&nbsp; I couldn't find one that didn't already have a bajillion miles on it, and I began to look at other makes.&nbsp; I ended up with a 2011 Nissan Rogue that had only 10,000 miles on it.&nbsp; It's the basic model, is a little smaller than a CRV, and doesn't have a few of the fluff extras, but it has a decent ride, gets decent gas mileage for a car of that type, and the <b>price was right.&nbsp; </b>Sold. </span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_mOjwGGU70Y/T05fY6W6-UI/AAAAAAAAEBE/j_ThfwH6mpA/s1600/Nissan+Rogue+2011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_mOjwGGU70Y/T05fY6W6-UI/AAAAAAAAEBE/j_ThfwH6mpA/s320/Nissan+Rogue+2011.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">I mentioned something to my son about removing the "iRun" sticker from the the back window of the Fit since he'll be driving it.</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-P9v7c80z92Q/T05nj9pdRhI/AAAAAAAAEBM/fwyDfogTWOA/s1600/015+-+Copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-P9v7c80z92Q/T05nj9pdRhI/AAAAAAAAEBM/fwyDfogTWOA/s1600/015+-+Copy.JPG" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: large;">He wanted to keep the sticker because it made the car more identifiable in a parking lot full of similar cars.&nbsp; He has a point. </span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">The running continues.&nbsp; It's not fast, pretty or frequent as I need, but it continues. </span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">I pulled a muscle in my right quad at track last night, even before we started to run.&nbsp; I still can't figure that one out, other than getting up wrong after the group stretch.&nbsp; We have a 15K on Saturday.&nbsp; I might sit this one out and volunteer.&nbsp; I have a few days to see how I feel.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Last week we learned of the passing of our dear friend Ann Marie.&nbsp; She was the wife of Jeff, Hubs' best friend from high school. Ann Marie and Jeff met at their 20 year high school reunion.&nbsp; The school was so huge when they attended that their paths never crossed until that night at the 20 year reunion.&nbsp; They came from much different backgrounds and different worlds, but together they were perfect for each other.&nbsp; Ann Marie never had a loss for words and had to be the friendliest person I've ever met.&nbsp; At the "Celebration of Life" many friends and family members shared about their experiences with Ann Marie.&nbsp; Her daughter recalled the several times her mother would go to the grocery store and come home with a new friend, and that, in the teenage years, was kind of embarrassing.&nbsp; Soon after her daughter spoke, a woman came up to the podium and said, "I am one of those people Ann Marie brought home from the grocery store."&nbsp; Everyone laughed. That was Ann Marie:&nbsp; Friendly and always making friends along the way, no matter where she was. Ann Marie also had a deep faith, which is something that I admire since I often question my own.&nbsp; Illness took our dear friend on February 20, 2012, just 6 days shy of her 54th birthday.&nbsp; It's so hard to say goodbye to someone who had so much to say. </span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-F6ME4UafRSE/T05rKoEmD9I/AAAAAAAAEBc/gRCe6XMD2j4/s1600/IMG_0283+-+Copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="230" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-F6ME4UafRSE/T05rKoEmD9I/AAAAAAAAEBc/gRCe6XMD2j4/s320/IMG_0283+-+Copy.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me, Ann Marie, Jeff at the Campgrounds near Carlsbad State Beach. </td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: large;">The service was held at a church located in the middle of the Temecula wine country. After the service and reception a few of us went to a winery to reflect, regather our thoughts after an emotional morning, and toast to Ann Marie. &nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b> </b></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1ACfpAmqxSI/T06u5iHVMaI/AAAAAAAAECM/sEiW6SiSyUw/s1600/006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1ACfpAmqxSI/T06u5iHVMaI/AAAAAAAAECM/sEiW6SiSyUw/s320/006.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The view from <b><a href="http://bellavistawinery.com/">Bella Vista</a> </b>- Organic Winery, Temecula, CA</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="font-size: large;">It was a beautiful day to say good bye and to remember.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b> </b></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Song from Sunday February 26, 2012:</b></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Hold Me Tight - The Beatles</span><br /><div style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: x-large;"><b>PEACE</b></span><br /><br />Irenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03163803961338323135noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12534874.post-29819340855049314532012-02-26T19:46:00.000-08:002012-02-26T19:46:58.539-08:00Hold Me Tight<span style="font-size: large;"><b>PRODUCT REVIEW</b> -<b><a href="http://www.110playharder.com/index.htm"> 110%&nbsp; - Compression Gear</a></b></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Ever since training for the 2009 Las Vegas Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon, I've been using compression sleeves for my calves/shins.&nbsp; In 2009 we were at the end of our training stint for the LVRNR event.&nbsp; It was the LAST day of training with one week until the event.&nbsp; For some bizarre reason, I blew out my left calf muscle during class.&nbsp; There was no immediate rhyme or reason why this happened, it just did. The only thing that helped me to even participate in the half marathon a week later was the use of compression sleeves.&nbsp; Since that time I've used compression sleeves on and off for calf issues and shin splints.&nbsp; Compression sleeves DO work.&nbsp; I've tried a few different brands, and they are about the same, with minor differences, but all offer support and compression for the shins and calves.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">I was contacted by 110% to review their compression sleeves for calves/shins.&nbsp; Here's what they&nbsp; had to say about their products:</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-G8YKfZzV9Kc/T0rowYiIjOI/AAAAAAAAEAs/9qTc8bIpbKQ/s1600/110+shin+-+Calf-ice+women+T.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-G8YKfZzV9Kc/T0rowYiIjOI/AAAAAAAAEAs/9qTc8bIpbKQ/s320/110+shin+-+Calf-ice+women+T.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq"><div class="comptech-left-col"><h4 class="color1"> <span style="font-size: large;"><i>BETTER FIT</i></span></h4><div class="last"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Our tubular seamless construction delivers an ergonomic fit and serious support exactly where you need it.</i></span></div><h4 class="color1"> <span style="font-size: large;"><i></i></span></h4></div></blockquote><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq"><div class="comptech-left-col"><h4 class="color1"> <span style="font-size: large;"><i>POCKET DESIGN FOR ICE THERAPY</i></span></h4><div class="last"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>110% compression system is the only one designed with pockets that allow you to easily slip in thermal ice sheets that perform as ice therapy for faster recovery. </i></span></div><h4 class="color1"> <span style="font-size: large;"><i></i></span></h4></div></blockquote><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq"><div class="comptech-left-col"><h4 class="color1"> <span style="font-size: large;"><i>NO SWEAT, NO SMELL</i></span></h4><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Our training and recovery garments are made of 70% polypropylene which retains 300% less water than nylon garments to keep you cool and dry while you're pushing your edge. 110% compression gear is made from individually silver-treated fibers to help destroy 99.99% of odor-causing bacteria.</i></span></div><br /><div class="comptech-right-col"><h4 class="color1"> <span style="font-size: large;"><i>COMPRESSION WHERE YOU NEED IT</i></span></h4><div class="last"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Every garment is anatomically designed to create zoned and gradient compression: Highest furthest from the heart and lowest where it's closer, to provide targeted biomechanical support.</i></span></div><h4 class="color1"> <span style="font-size: large;"><i></i></span></h4></div></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><div class="comptech-right-col"><h4 class="color1"> <span style="font-size: large;"><i>OPTIMAL 15-22 MMHG</i></span></h4><div class="last"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Research told us (and we listened), the optimal 15-22 mmhg of compression allows for extended use as well as providing superior comfort and maximum efficacy before, during and after training or performance. </i></span></div><h4 class="color1"> <span style="font-size: large;"><i></i></span></h4></div></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><div class="comptech-right-col"><h4 class="color1"> <span style="font-size: large;"><i>MORE POWER</i></span></h4><h4 class="color1" style="font-weight: normal;"> <span style="font-size: large;"><i>Advanced garment technology and a 360-degree Stretch Knit with 50% more spandex than competitors and higher levels of compression (mmHg), for optimal support, circulation and mobility.</i></span></h4></div><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><i><b>BENEFITS OF ICE</b></i></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"></span><span style="font-size: large;"><i>The elemental power of ice has long been a staple of recovery treatment for high performance athletes. Ice restricts the blood vessels to prevent the accumulation of fluids. It also reduces inflammation and pain.</i> </span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"></span><span style="font-size: large;"><i></i></span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Compression and ice TOGETHER immediately reduces swelling, aids in soft-tissue recovery and helps reduce numb, sore, tissue to decrease further injury in the future.&nbsp; The combination of ice therapy and seamless compression technology makes 110% the perfect gear to use if you are driven to play harder. Only 110% benefits your training before, during and after. </i></span></blockquote><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">I asked about sizing.&nbsp; During a non running, non workout state, I measured my calves at 14 1/2.&nbsp; I was between needing as small and a medium.&nbsp; It was advised that I would need a small. &nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">The sleeves arrived in a reusable, insulated, silver packet with a clip attached to the corner, and ice pack sheets.&nbsp; </span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1Gjip0vmmGY/T0ruEzjs2_I/AAAAAAAAEA0/OSF9ijB4_94/s1600/020.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1Gjip0vmmGY/T0ruEzjs2_I/AAAAAAAAEA0/OSF9ijB4_94/s320/020.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div><br /><span style="font-size: large;">The compression sleeves are much thicker and more taut than the other compression sleeves I've been using.&nbsp; The sleeves are doubled, which makes a pocket for the ice packs when needed.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">When I first put put on the compression sleeves, I noticed how tight they were, almost verging on being too tight.&nbsp; I wore them to a run fit class and later on for a 6 mile run.&nbsp; I had no problem putting them on, but taking them off was somewhat of a struggle.&nbsp; I know they're supposed to be tight to be effective, and I figured I would give these sleeves the ultimate test at the Carlsbad Half Marathon.&nbsp; I figured I had put in one workout and one long run with these compression sleeves, and I probably would be OK at a half marathon.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Right after the half marathon, the compression sleeves felt way too tight, and I got a pretty bad cramp in my right calf after finishing.&nbsp; I was well hydrated, had plenty of electrolytes, and bananas, so I knew the cramp wasn't from lack of sustenance.&nbsp; I also had a difficult time getting the ice inside the pocket of the sleeve.&nbsp; Once I was able, I attempted to take off the compression sleeves and it seemed much more of a struggle than normal.&nbsp; The fit seemed more tight than what is normal.&nbsp; When I finally got the sleeves off, I found that the sleeves actually cut into both of my ankles:</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lHxSyC9egNs/T0rw3RddbII/AAAAAAAAEA8/GnE-M8dgZi4/s1600/006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lHxSyC9egNs/T0rw3RddbII/AAAAAAAAEA8/GnE-M8dgZi4/s320/006.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">The compression sleeves I was wearing were too small for me.&nbsp; I contacted the rep and I was able to exchange the smalls for mediums.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Now that I have the medium sized compression sleeves, there is less of a struggle to insert the ice pack sheets and to take them off, and still offer plenty of support.&nbsp; I wore the mediums on a few long runs and at a couple of Run Fit workouts, and I am happy to report that my calves, shins AND ankles are liking the mediums quite well. That being said, my recommendation is to measure your calves right after running or working out for a more accurate idea of what size you might be.&nbsp; If you happen to measure between two sizes like I did, size up. </span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">I was impressed with the quality of the 110% product.&nbsp; The compression sleeves retail for $75.00 and are worth every dollar.&nbsp; I actually feel the 110% brand of compression sleeves will outlast the other compression sleeves I already use and I would actually purchase this brand on my own.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><b><span style="font-size: large;">Song from Wednesday, February 8, 2012:</span></b><br /><span style="font-size: large;">This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race&nbsp; - Fall Out Boy - <a href="http://run-dmz.blogspot.com/">Run-DMZ</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-size: x-large;"><b>PEACE</b></span> </span>Irenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03163803961338323135noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12534874.post-35107700105216675342012-02-08T16:42:00.000-08:002012-02-15T20:48:26.867-08:00This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race<span style="font-size: large;"><b>A Tale of Two Races.</b></span><br /><br />Where did January go?&nbsp; January is over and we're a week and a day into February. I posted here only once in January! That's so sad.&nbsp; The blog fodder is in my head, but it doesn't magically appear here once I think it.<br />&nbsp; <br /><div style="color: #6aa84f;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>RACE #1</b></span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ecOlqlc6cpc/TzMUuWiuf9I/AAAAAAAAEAU/g0mk0Pc4xMA/s1600/carlsbad+logo.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ecOlqlc6cpc/TzMUuWiuf9I/AAAAAAAAEAU/g0mk0Pc4xMA/s1600/carlsbad+logo.gif" /></a></div><br />I ran in the Carlsbad Half Marathon on January 22, 2012!&nbsp; It was an epic day because I didn't get sick at this run or run already sick!&nbsp; Woohoo! I was so happy to run the entire thing in a healthy state, albeit slow.<br /><br />Highlights from the Carlsbad Half Marathon/Marathon weekend: <br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-emXQZBxcZ1c/Tydp49tqSCI/AAAAAAAAD-c/EDs23g4CfRc/s1600/031.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-emXQZBxcZ1c/Tydp49tqSCI/AAAAAAAAD-c/EDs23g4CfRc/s400/031.JPG" width="400" /></a>&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: center;">A healthy carb load dinner - Hubs, Jill, Boy Scout, Meg, Tara, Marcia, Me.</div><br /><a href="http://runwithjill.blogspot.com/"><b>Jill</b></a> and <a href="http://taralovestorun.blogspot.com/"><b>Tara</b></a> came in from Colorado, and <a href="http://teamarcia-runningmouth.blogspot.com/"><b>Marcia</b></a> just barely came in from Chicago in time for us to all meet for dinner.&nbsp; I was so happy they all made it out here because several flights were cancelled or delayed.&nbsp; It was so much fun to see everyone and it makes me want to travel to one of their races. <br /><br />Carlsbad is my favorite half marathon race because it goes right along the coast.&nbsp; We had partly cloudy skies and cool temperatures, which made for a nice run.&nbsp; Since I constantly train on hills, the hills on the course didn't phase me too much, but I also realized that I need to get in more squats, lunges and longer, steeper hill in my training to take me through June of this year.&nbsp; I can normally keep pace going up hills and pass people, but I slowed quite a bit going up a few of the hills in Carlsbad. <br /><br />I have no mile to mile synopsis, other than getting to around mile 9 and realizing that I still felt good.&nbsp; The first two times I ran Carlsbad the mile 9-ish marker was the point of&nbsp; walking, only because I was sick or about to get sick.&nbsp; Even though it was slow going, I ran the entire race without stopping for anything or anybody, not even a photo op.&nbsp; I finished in 2:30: 45.&nbsp; Definitely WAY far away from a PR, but certainly not my slowest.&nbsp; Bonus points for not being escorted to the medical tent by a volunteer.<br /><br /><b>Here are a few photo highlights of race day:</b><br /><br />Hubs and I up with Cindi and Jamie in the potty line.&nbsp; Cindi passed on a potty line tip - go for the corner port-o-potties.&nbsp; For whatever reason, those lines are shorter, but don't tell any body.&nbsp; It's a secret.&nbsp; *wink*<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kWhzo0xX2DQ/Tx42YSy14HI/AAAAAAAAEgE/MesgDKAZdlA/s320/IMG_2116.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kWhzo0xX2DQ/Tx42YSy14HI/AAAAAAAAEgE/MesgDKAZdlA/s320/IMG_2116.JPG" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Jamie and <b><a href="http://hefferblog.blogspot.com/">Cindi (AKA Alice) </a></b>in their trademark Heffer day-glo green, showing off their green arm sleeves.&nbsp;<span style="font-size: x-small;"> ( I stole this photo from Cindi's blog.)</span></span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bia4Sp-jgcE/TzLbOYyS3sI/AAAAAAAAD_U/c2S_cbOPgFs/s1600/402031_2800489164651_1031192354_4466721_578552249_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bia4Sp-jgcE/TzLbOYyS3sI/AAAAAAAAD_U/c2S_cbOPgFs/s320/402031_2800489164651_1031192354_4466721_578552249_n.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Cheese! Pre-Race with <a href="http://www.planetynneprunning.com/"><b>Penny</b></a>!&nbsp; The past thee Carlsbad Half Marathon races we've been able to find each other with no planning.&nbsp; Amazing.&nbsp;<span style="font-size: x-small;"> (I stole this photo from Penny off of Facebook)</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-38LHIAXaEJw/TzLX6YhJSSI/AAAAAAAAD_M/4gOfn6zseYc/s1600/Carlsbad+Half+Marathon+2012++4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-38LHIAXaEJw/TzLX6YhJSSI/AAAAAAAAD_M/4gOfn6zseYc/s320/Carlsbad+Half+Marathon+2012++4.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">I think this is somewhere around mile 4 going up hill. As for those sleeves, I received more comments about those <b><a href="http://moeben.com/">Moeben </a></b>sleeves at this race, even though I've worn them at several races.&nbsp; </span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZsGltPLeCjg/TzLig7cECxI/AAAAAAAAD_s/pjKbRUvDHX4/s1600/96401-643-025f.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZsGltPLeCjg/TzLig7cECxI/AAAAAAAAD_s/pjKbRUvDHX4/s320/96401-643-025f.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Hubs coming in to the finish.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nxnzZtn1F_E/TzLWFhuHo6I/AAAAAAAAD-8/x-Pu9psgW34/s1600/004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nxnzZtn1F_E/TzLWFhuHo6I/AAAAAAAAD-8/x-Pu9psgW34/s400/004.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Post race - Meg, Me, Jill, Tara, Marcia.&nbsp; I totally matched my bib number and finisher's medal/ribbon. I was amazed and impressed that Jill, who ran the marathon, was still standing and looking fabulous.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bCsDHxvYTz0/TzLeS6lRhWI/AAAAAAAAD_k/Bgyc0mo-GfQ/s1600/001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bCsDHxvYTz0/TzLeS6lRhWI/AAAAAAAAD_k/Bgyc0mo-GfQ/s320/001.JPG" width="224" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.therunninggreengirl.com/"><b>Mary - The Running Green Girl</b></a> met us at the race to cheer us on! </span></td></tr></tbody></table>I know tons of photos were taken by track club friends, but I have no idea where those photos are, or if those have been posted anywhere.&nbsp; Hubs and I also spent some time recouping post race with track club friends Bruce and Michelle, and if those photos ever surface, I'll post those. <br /><br />Post race we thought about meeting the Heffers at the High Dive for post run cheers and eats, and we were also invited to Megs for post run eats, but by the time we left&nbsp; the parking lot of the race area, all I wanted to do was go home and sleep.<br /><br /><br /><div style="color: #6aa84f;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>RACE #2</b></span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zBKQ1AJY0bg/TzMUWxKy2bI/AAAAAAAAEAM/A9URfC0Hvpw/s1600/SuperRun+2012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="215" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zBKQ1AJY0bg/TzMUWxKy2bI/AAAAAAAAEAM/A9URfC0Hvpw/s320/SuperRun+2012.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />My next race was the Super Run 10K, February 4, 2012, which coincides with Superbowl weekend.&nbsp; I knew from the get go that it wasn't going to be a stellar race for myself.&nbsp; My PR for a 10K is 55:19, and I knew I would be at least 5 or 6 minutes off of that time, especially when I'm doing my slow, non race mode training runs (6 miles) in about 1:06, and that's without going for speed and stopping for electrolytes or water.&nbsp; We arrived at South Shores, next to Sea World at the butt crack of dawn to retrieve our race numbers and long sleeved race tech T shirts.&nbsp; After plenty of time socializing, trips to the port-o-potty line, and the track club warm-up and stretch session, it was race time.&nbsp; I was set to use music to ease into this run, but the random headphones I grabbed from home<i> (when I couldn't find my regular ones)</i> were not compatible with my iPhone, meaning: no running music for motivation.&nbsp; I set my Garmin and we were off.&nbsp; Within the first 50 feet my Garmin beeps and I get an error message that says something about laps being full and shuts off.&nbsp; WTF? I just cleared it out.&nbsp; I might have to do a reboot before I call tech support.&nbsp; It was too late to use my <b>i<a href="http://www.ismoothrun.com/">SmoothRun</a></b><span style="color: red;">*</span> phone app since I was already running.&nbsp; I figured this was a chipped race, and I'd have an official race time that would be posted somewhere on the internet.&nbsp; So I thought. <br /><br /><br />I felt so tired and sluggish for the entire race.&nbsp; I could not find my groove or my happy pace.&nbsp; I struggled and, for the first time ever, disliked running. <i style="color: #3d85c6;">*Gasp!*</i>&nbsp; My legs felt heavy and my breathing was labored.&nbsp; I wanted it to be over. I tried to dig down deep and pull through by calling out to my friends, cheering them on, as I saw them run ahead of me near the turn-around at this out-and-back race.<br /><br />I ran the whole race as best as I could, but I RAN.&nbsp; There were walk/runners who were faster than I could go.&nbsp; I crossed through the finish line as the clock clicked over to 1:06:00.&nbsp; I figured my chip time would be somewhere&nbsp; in the 1:05 range. Eh.&nbsp; Not bad, but not stupendous, either.&nbsp; By the time I finished the race the skies were clear blue, and it was another gorgeous Southern California day. <br /><br />I was happy to be finished with the race, and met back at the post race expo area with a lot of my happy friends, most had PRs.&nbsp; I fed off of their happiness because I've seen the progress my friends have made over the past 4 years, knowing where they've started and how far they've come.&nbsp; It felt good to be around such awesomeness.&nbsp; <br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HH6u0c-KLOU/TzLwKHkDOYI/AAAAAAAAD_0/noARGH9nNqo/s1600/Super+run+10K+2012+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="311" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HH6u0c-KLOU/TzLwKHkDOYI/AAAAAAAAD_0/noARGH9nNqo/s400/Super+run+10K+2012+1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Hubs, me, Cathie and her husband John.&nbsp; Cathie WON her age group!</span></td></tr></tbody></table>Hubs and I decided not to stick around to see who won the age group placements and official time postings, and joined the<a href="http://hefferblog.blogspot.com/p/heffer-whats-heffer.html"><b> Heffers </b></a>at the <a href="http://highdiveinc.com/index.html"><b>High Dive,</b></a> since we missed joining them after the Carlsbad half.&nbsp; <br /><br />I was too lazy to get off of my butt, to walk a couple of hundred feet to my car to get my iPhone to take pictures at the High Dive.&nbsp; I used Hub's iPhone instead. I'll be lucky to get those pictures off of his iPhone any time soon.&nbsp; If I do, I'll post those somewhere.&nbsp; Again, here 's a collage shot I'm stealing from Cindi's Facebook page:<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-awwS1Wa9pic/TzLyxbW1W8I/AAAAAAAAD_8/qKqc1U_452Y/s1600/Super+run+10K+and+High+Dive+2012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-awwS1Wa9pic/TzLyxbW1W8I/AAAAAAAAD_8/qKqc1U_452Y/s400/Super+run+10K+and+High+Dive+2012.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Pre race and post race. Cheers! BTW, that's blogger <a href="http://www.lauralohr.com/wordpress/"><b>Laura</b></a> in the lower left hand picture on the right side.</span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>The High Dive was rather busy with happy post racers and regulars, and we enjoyed our beers, mimosas, bloody Marys, and bloody beers.&nbsp; Oh, we had breakfast foods, too. :)<br /><br />Post High Dive, Hubs and I went home.&nbsp; I got on the internet to look for our official finish times.&nbsp; The race officials posted up to 1:01:56, and posted that these were "preliminary results."&nbsp; A couple of days go by and there are no updated race results. I sent Kathy Loper Events an e-mail inquiring about my finish time.&nbsp; I did receive a prompt response saying, <i style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">"...we had some issues with our equipment and will repost as soon as we can. &nbsp;We appreciate your patience."</span></i><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: black;">&nbsp;<span style="font-size: small;"> Just peachy. It figures that it's the only race I've ever run blind (sans timepiece) and is my slowest race is the one they have issues at, and it's with time frame I ran in.&nbsp; Sheesh.&nbsp; Thanks KLE for making me feel even slower than I already felt that day.&nbsp; As of right now, the race results have not been updated.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></span></span></span><br /><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span><br /><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">It's so odd that I went from feeling great at the Carlsbad Half Marathon to feeling like a super slug at the Super Run 10K.&nbsp; I've been feeling a little worn out and have decided to take a week off from anything running or working out.&nbsp; Not all races can be on, and I completely get that.&nbsp; Been there done that, been there done that.&nbsp; It kind of helps that I have to work this weekend, which means I can't run with the track club on Saturday. I'm the kind of person who will show up for something if I've officially signed up for it or say I will be there. Give me a gold star for attendance. Having to work gives me an out.&nbsp; It's not that I need an out,&nbsp; I guess it makes me feel justified.&nbsp; Aside from running, Hubs and I have been dealing with our rental house and preparing it for our new renter, who is already awesome and has offered to refinish the wood floors.&nbsp; Our prior renter was a royal pain for many reasons, but it was mostly a case of major laziness on her part. Needless to say, both Hubs and I are exhausted from fixing the house and making repairs. Thank goodness for our son and his friends who offered to help paint.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></span><br /><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span><br /><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">Now that the rental house is in order, I'll be able to blog more frequently... Well, at least more than once a month.&nbsp; I'll go for twice a month.&nbsp;</span></span><br /><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span><br /><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">In my next blog post I'll be reviewing compression sleeves from <b><a href="http://www.110playharder.com/">110%</a>. </b></span></span><br /><br /><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TNIImWKm_sY/TzL_nxJE6qI/AAAAAAAAEAE/yNddbOUKy5c/s1600/110+shin+-+Calf-ice+women+T.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TNIImWKm_sY/TzL_nxJE6qI/AAAAAAAAEAE/yNddbOUKy5c/s1600/110+shin+-+Calf-ice+women+T.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">These even come with places to put ice packs!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Song from January 6, 2012:</b></span><br />Yesterday to Tomorrow -&nbsp; Audioslave</div><br /><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: x-large;"><b>PEACE</b></span><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0yRGBYML514/TzLdybRAJ6I/AAAAAAAAD_c/bhmlqokrG-8/s1600/001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></span></div><span style="color: red; font-size: x-small;">*</span><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;">After a little research, I purchased the<a href="http://www.ismoothrun.com/"> <b>iSmoothRun</b></a><b> </b>app for my iPhone because I found the Nike+GPS app too glitchy, and I like having a backup to my Garmin.&nbsp; So far, this app is idiot proof, except for when your Garmin craps out after the race has started and there's no time to restart the race...&nbsp; Anyway, it's close to my beloved&nbsp; but discontinued BiM app that I had two cell phones ago</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">.</span><br /><br /><br />Irenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03163803961338323135noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12534874.post-91401768500194620772012-01-06T16:30:00.000-08:002012-01-06T16:31:28.964-08:00Yesterday to Tomorrow<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Happy New Year!</b></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">The holidays sure came and went so quickly.&nbsp; I wish I had the time to bask in the joy of the season, but I felt as if we rushed right through Christmas, then on to New Year's Eve, and here I am, just about a week into the new year and wondering where December went.&nbsp;&nbsp; I thought I would do a lot more blogging during the holidays, but with everyone except me off from work and school, I had very little computer time, unless I could check e-mails and Facebook on my iPhone.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>What a difference a year makes.</b></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Last year I was not a happy camper at my former place of employment.&nbsp; It was unnecessarily stressful, brought on by a uber micro managing business owner/boss who encouraged throwing your fellow coworkers under the bus.&nbsp; I was constantly sick and dropped a solid 10 pounds, 15 if I count the week my weight dropped to a number I haven't seen in years.&nbsp; It was not a healthy weight loss and I did not have 15 pounds to lose.&nbsp; 10 was OK, but losing weight without wanting to is scary, especially when I was eating high calorie foods (on purpose) to maintain weight.&nbsp; I was constantly stressed working in a toxic environment - not only people toxic, but something (physically) there made me ill.&nbsp; From Monday through Friday my eyes would feel dry and puffy, my head felt fuzzy,&nbsp; and I always felt lethargic.&nbsp; Saturday and Sunday (my days off) I felt clear-minded and healthy.&nbsp; Monday it would start all over again. Running was my true refuge, no matter how crummy I felt. Running gave me clarity of mind and I could feel grounded again.&nbsp; I don't know what I would have done without running since it kept me sane. I remember the few days after I left that office, sitting on the couch watching TV and realizing how amazingly good I felt for the first time in months.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">This year I am a very happy camper at my current place of employment, where I began working about a month after I left the toxic office. It may not be the fanciest or most up-to-date technical wonder of an office, we still use a DOS based program, but&nbsp; it's great when your employer always says things like "thanks for being here today, " and means it.&nbsp; We all share in each other's accomplishments and look out for each other when needed.&nbsp; My only gripe about my current job is that I'm not working enough hours.&nbsp; Oh, and the weight came back.&nbsp; That's not really a gripe, though.&nbsp; I was hoping to at least hang on to a 5 pound weight loss, but I'll take the happy + 5 pounds over the miserable -15 pounds any day.&nbsp; My running has stayed the same, though.&nbsp; I wish I could say that a happier workplace has lead to better running, but that keeps changing, regardless of what's going on in my professional/personal life.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Other Stuff...</b></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">My son's band actually played a show at the House of Blues, Downtown, San Diego -- and got paid. </span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-asL0q76IvGA/TweFVX3MawI/AAAAAAAAD-M/7Jl8SakNWCo/s1600/Undead+Garden+at+HOB+12+30+2011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-asL0q76IvGA/TweFVX3MawI/AAAAAAAAD-M/7Jl8SakNWCo/s640/Undead+Garden+at+HOB+12+30+2011.jpg" width="478" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">UNDEAD GARDEN performing "Grilled Cheese."&nbsp; My son is on the drums.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Not bad for an iPhone/Facebook photo taken by a parent (me) trying to look inconspicuous.&nbsp; </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">After the gig, and back at home with is band mates &amp; friends, Hubs felt the need to make a few grilled cheese sandwiches for the band.&nbsp; </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">&nbsp;My son started out as a lead guitar player, and is quite talented with his guitar playing abilities, but there were always issues finding a reliable drummer.&nbsp; They would find a drummer who would seem consistent for a few weeks, then suddenly be late, not show up, or move out of town without notice to anyone.&nbsp; My son took a few drumming classes at the community college, and took it upon himself to sharpen his skills.&nbsp; Now that he's THE drummer, the band has consistent practices with complete sets and are now booking gigs.&nbsp; I'm floored.&nbsp; They still need to sharpen their sound a bit, but the fact that they already have a following and are booking gigs is amazing.&nbsp; Their sound is sort of punk-metal.&nbsp; </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">New Year's Resolutions?</span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">I don't really make New Year's resolutions, but I have been known to do some goal setting.&nbsp; Once I am finished with prior race commitments, I'm going to take a break.&nbsp; I have a few races planned up until June, and after that I'm going to just cruise and run without a particular race in mind.&nbsp; I'll continue to run, but running won't be the sole focus. There's so much more out there, and maybe I need to refocus on my other passions that have been left in the dust.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">My current agenda includes the Carlsbad Half Marathon, which is taking place in a couple of weeks.&nbsp; As much as I would love to say that I'm 100% prepared for this race, I'm not.&nbsp; Regardless of how ill prepared I am, this is one of my favorite races.&nbsp; Even though it starts off at a shopping mall, most of the half marathon is along the coast, and it's beautiful.&nbsp; This is a race for the mind.&nbsp; The two times I've run it I've been sick, and just ever so lucky to finish.&nbsp; I'd say running along the coast kept me going.&nbsp; My game plan for this time is to (again) just finish and I'm OK with that.&nbsp; I don't need a PR to enjoy the ride.&nbsp; </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /><b>Song from Thursday, December 22, 2011:</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">(There's No Place) Like Home for the Holidays - Perry Como</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b style="color: #76a5af;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">PEACE</span></b></div>Irenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03163803961338323135noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12534874.post-35913050527993794682011-12-22T16:01:00.000-08:002011-12-22T16:02:30.199-08:00(There's No Place) Like Home for the Holidays<span style="font-size: large;">December brought a slew of non-stop busy-ness.&nbsp; It's been party, party, party... sort of.&nbsp; I can't remember the last time Hubs and I were invited to a grown up party together until this year.&nbsp; After Las Vegas, we had four holiday parties last week, plus our wedding anniversary of 29 years on December 11th.&nbsp; This week was a little calmer but busy with baking and trying to remember what we did with certain Christmas decorations.&nbsp; I went old school this year and used most of the Christmas decorations from the years when my kids were in grade school.&nbsp;&nbsp; We also put up the tree in the living room this year.&nbsp; </span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hO-sBg6uHBA/TvOsK5XiGMI/AAAAAAAAD88/GzEMs3Gpj9U/s1600/Christmas+2011+011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hO-sBg6uHBA/TvOsK5XiGMI/AAAAAAAAD88/GzEMs3Gpj9U/s400/Christmas+2011+011.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">The dining room where the tree usually goes is, uh, having issues...&nbsp;&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1CKumhFb8ao/TvPDnr_idYI/AAAAAAAAD-E/tx0quyAbAV8/s1600/Christmas+2011+022.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1CKumhFb8ao/TvPDnr_idYI/AAAAAAAAD-E/tx0quyAbAV8/s200/Christmas+2011+022.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Like last year, the Kiddo was my decorating buddy and helped me with the majority of the decorating.&nbsp; Hubs put one ornament on, and and my son put a few up high were I couldn't reach, and my daughter was oblivious to other life around her while busy with studying for finals.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QKSPaF7OHWc/TvOtg4tG1JI/AAAAAAAAD9I/933ghxQKi_4/s1600/Christmas+2011+013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QKSPaF7OHWc/TvOtg4tG1JI/AAAAAAAAD9I/933ghxQKi_4/s400/Christmas+2011+013.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Living room fireplace.&nbsp;&nbsp;</b></div><div style="text-align: center;">I would so love to have a warm fire, but this fireplace needs to be repaired or torn down and rebuilt.&nbsp; I put candles in it but there's no damper, and the air coming in through the top blows out my candles. *sigh*&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The kiddo pointed out that since we can't burn anything in this fireplace that Santa won't get burned when he comes down our chimney. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-I6-wHPcJILY/TvOvDByx01I/AAAAAAAAD9U/rdU9dyBIIlw/s1600/Christmas+2011+010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-I6-wHPcJILY/TvOvDByx01I/AAAAAAAAD9U/rdU9dyBIIlw/s400/Christmas+2011+010.JPG" width="300" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>The Kiddo</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas because I got this surprise delivered today:</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KBNhkTaRmjA/TvOwStJzvKI/AAAAAAAAD9g/y6EJOtwP4jo/s1600/Christmas+2011+003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KBNhkTaRmjA/TvOwStJzvKI/AAAAAAAAD9g/y6EJOtwP4jo/s400/Christmas+2011+003.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Nothing says Merry Christmas more than socks, holiday peppermint Gu's, and Stingers from&nbsp; blogger <b><a href="http://taralovestorun.blogspot.com/">Tara - Colorado Runner</a></b>!&nbsp;&nbsp; Yay!&nbsp; </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">The packages were shipped from REI.&nbsp; When UPS delivered the boxes I was wracking my head trying to remember what I had ordered from REI.&nbsp; Then it clicked that these were from my Secret Santa from the Bloggie Gift Exchange.&nbsp; One box contained the great pair of Smartwool running socks, and the other box contained the Gu's and Stingers.&nbsp; The timing is perfect because I'm out of any type of gel/goo electrolyte and I just might have to save a couple for the Carlsbad half marathon next month.&nbsp; The socks are on my feet right now:</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iB4RNaJTBko/TvOy3vNPR-I/AAAAAAAAD9s/DkG75lp5Z14/s1600/Christmas+2011+021.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iB4RNaJTBko/TvOy3vNPR-I/AAAAAAAAD9s/DkG75lp5Z14/s400/Christmas+2011+021.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Warm and cushy!&nbsp; I can't wait to run in these! Thanks so much, Tara!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">On the running front, not a lot of running has been happening.&nbsp; Somewhere between the parties and work, I caught a cold.&nbsp; It's not a bad cold, but just enough to mess up the flow of day-to-day life.&nbsp;&nbsp; I know I had the cold before I had to deal with the bratty snot-nosed kid patient and his clueless mother.</span><span style="color: red; font-size: large;">*</span><span style="font-size: large;"> Gross. I hope to do a slow, longish run this Saturday morning, which happens to be Christmas Eve. </span></div><br /><span style="font-size: large;">In other news, for the first time in YEARS (2000?) I received a cash bonus at work.&nbsp; I honestly wasn't expecting much of anything, maybe a box of candy, but since I'm part-time right now I felt the bonus was rather generous.&nbsp; I had plans for new Ugg boots and have change left over for an outfit, <b>BUT</b> one of my cats became rather ill yesterday and my bonus went towards paying the vet bill. Merry Christmas to my vet. Oh well. &nbsp; At least I had that cash to help lessen the blow of that hefty vet bill, and for that I am grateful.&nbsp; &nbsp; FYI, it was my little girl cat, Luna, the little bitty 8 pound cat who can beat up our 75 pound dog.&nbsp; The vet thinks it's a thyroid issue.&nbsp; She's doing much better now and will be on meds for a week.&nbsp; Good times.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">This year we didn't send out Christmas cards.&nbsp; I suppose we could have, we just didn't.&nbsp; I'm thinking of New Year's cards. &nbsp; Just in case, consider this picture of the Kiddo and me your Christmas card from me: </span><br /><br /><div style="color: red; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Wishing you all lots of Christmas cheer!</span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dVt5gereFsQ/TvO9jZLHPCI/AAAAAAAAD94/KjNFDTuCrV4/s1600/Christmas+2011+018.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dVt5gereFsQ/TvO9jZLHPCI/AAAAAAAAD94/KjNFDTuCrV4/s400/Christmas+2011+018.JPG" width="298" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b><br /><div style="font-family: Times,&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif;"><span style="color: black; font-size: large;"><b>Song from Thursday, December 8, 2011: </b>&nbsp;</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif;"><span style="color: black; font-size: large;">Good Intentions - Toad the Wet Sprocket</span><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: red;"><br /></span></span></b></div><br /><br /><div style="font-family: Times,&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="color: red;">&nbsp;P</span><span style="color: #6aa84f;">E</span></b><b><span style="color: red;">A</span><span style="color: #6aa84f;">C</span><span style="color: red;">E</span></b></span></div><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: red; font-size: x-small;">*</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">On the scale of one to ten in snotty-nosed grossness, this kid was a 10, plus he sneezed all over everything.&nbsp; It was so gross that I felt the need to wipe everything down with rubbing alcohol when he and his mother left the building.&nbsp; I'm not a germophobe, but felt gross dealing with this obnoxious kid.&nbsp; I just don't understand parents who let their kids run a muck in a medical office, or any professional office.&nbsp; Sheesh. </span>Irenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03163803961338323135noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12534874.post-45727078105300390652011-12-08T11:59:00.000-08:002011-12-09T09:18:48.446-08:00Good Intentions<i><span style="font-size: large;">You know what they say about good intentions?</span></i><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">I'm sure the race coordinators at Competitor had really good intentions when planning the new night race for the Las Vegas Rock N Roll marathon and half marathon. I'm sure it all looked good on paper. The reality was another story.</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">The expo was pretty straight forward and the same as any other race expo, such as retrieving&nbsp; race numbers, d-tags, swag bag, t-shirt and freebies (mostly food) at the expo, plus peruse the expo for the latest and greatest gear.&nbsp; Hubs and I attended the expo on the Friday before the marathon/half marathon, so it wasn't too bad as far as crowds and getting out of there with in a reasonable amount of time. </span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">This year the race was a night race. It sounds kind of fun to run the strip at night with all the lights, right? The marathoners started around 4:00 PM and the half marathoners started around 5:30 PM. With the wave starts, I think we stared around 6:15PM-ish.&nbsp; The corrals were rather tight, and it was hard to get into our appropriate corrals.&nbsp; I was supposed to be in corral 9 and ended up being good with starting in corral 13. I've started other races that were quite crowded and just started in the wrong (higher numbered) corrals because I couldn't&nbsp; move due to crowds, so I really wasn't too surprised that this was the case.&nbsp; I figured it would ease up and become less congested once the race started.&nbsp; It did ease up a little, but, due to the fact people couldn't get into their appropriate corrals, there were walkers in front of runners, which made for slow going in some parts of the race where I felt good enough to kick things in gear.&nbsp; After the sun went down the temps dropped down to the low 30s and the wind kicked up in spots. It's also really dry in the high desert and you tend to get thirstier. With about 44,000 people running total, they did not prepare for running out of electrolyte, gels, and water cups. I carry a 20 ounce water bottle with me, and might need to refill it once. I refilled it 4 times at water stations. There was one stretch of the course where they ran out of cups and there was no water for 3.5 miles. The marathoners were mixed in with the runners at a several points, which screwed up those marathoners who were trying for a BQ or PRs.&nbsp; There were about 20,000 MORE&nbsp; people this year.</span><span style="color: red; font-size: large;">* </span><span style="font-size: large;"> I was unintentionally elbowed and bumped several times, and have a pretty good bruise on my arm from someone's elbow. I was often stuck behind groups of people who were much slower, and it was hard to get around them.&nbsp; As much as I tried, I couldn't speed up at the end, because I just could not navigate around people. &nbsp; After the finish line the water seemed like long ways away, and I had to ask someone where she got her water. I know there were tables with bagels, bananas, fruit, bars, etc, but it was so crowded I never made it to those tables. It also took me a while to get a mylar blanket. I was FREEZING. When I ran I was mostly fine. Stopping was another story. I was shivering while I waited for Hubs, who was about 10 minutes behind me, and that seemed like an eternity. My gloves got wet at the water stations and my fingers were freezing.&nbsp; I really wanted a hot beverage like hot tea or hot apple cider. Even hot chocolate would have sufficed, and I'm allergic to dairy. Heck, a cup of hot water would have been great. We didn't stick around for our post race beer, we just wanted to get our gear, use a restroom, and go back to our room, but that took about two hours total. Mandalay Bay, where the race ended, is connected to two other hotels and an overpass walkway to the hotel we stayed at.&nbsp; We thought we could walk through the hotels and overpass to get to our hotel room at New York, New York, which should have taken 10 to 15 minutes.&nbsp; We never made it out of Mandalay Bay.&nbsp; We got stuck in a cluster f*** of people trying to do the same thing.&nbsp; People were getting sick and passing out around us.&nbsp; The EMTs had a hard time getting to people in need. It looked like a war zone.&nbsp; It turns out part of that walkway area was blocked off for some Las Vegas premier for a Michael Jackson tribute show.&nbsp; Talk about bad timing! It took us well over an hour to get back to our room, which was less than a mile from the finish.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: orange;">Edit - Check out this article as to why so many people got sick! </span></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"> <a href="http://www.lvrj.com/news/marathon-runners-say-they-were-sickened-135233493.html">http://www.lvrj.com/news/marathon-runners-say-they-were-sickened-135233493.html</a></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">We missed the after parties because it was so late when we got back to our room, but we were too tired to go anywhere. While I showered, hubs went into the hotel lobby area to get food and bring it back to our room.&nbsp; The hotel restaurants were OVERWHELMED with post run people just trying to get something to eat. A couple of places told hubs that they were no longer seating people or placing to go orders.&nbsp; He managed to find a place that had pasta, which turned out to be fantastic, but maybe because I was so hungry by the time he made it back up to our room at midnight.&nbsp; </span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">The next morning we didn't have time for much more than packing and catching the shuttle to the airport.&nbsp; While at the airport we heard stories from other runners who had the same experience.&nbsp;&nbsp; I'm sure Competitor has heard an ear-full by now. I'm also sure they saw everything that happened from their heated and catered VIP viewing section... I guess they were initially too busy paying attention to their bottom line and not the finish line. </span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">There were some high points.&nbsp; They actually had women's sized t-shirts this year, finally, and it FITS.&nbsp; Hubs and I attended a pre race carb load dinner at the condo one of our track club buddies, and we saw a lot of friends there. I also met up with my blogger friend Dawn <b>(<a href="http://completerunning.com/dawn-on-the-run/">Dawn on the Run</a>) </b>from Canada at a Tweet-up. I also met Mary (<b><a href="http://www.therunninggreengirl.com/">The Running Green Girl</a></b>), Carrie (<b><a href="http://familyfitnessfood.com/">Family Fitness Food</a></b>) and a few other bloggers (who I can't for the life of me remember their names, but they are wonderful people!!!) I also did better than I anticipated. My mile splits weren't that great, but I was happy to see the finish time of 2:36:48 because it felt more like a 3 hour run running at night, plus it was hard to pace myself with so many people.&nbsp; I'm generally happy with my run.&nbsp; I did&nbsp; chat with a few (a very few) people who enjoyed every aspect of the race, and I'm glad to know it was enjoyable for those people.&nbsp; I'm guessing they were either uber fast and got out of the race area before the chaos hit, or they were walkers who were at the back of the pack and missed the bulk of the chaos.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">The medal is pretty nice. It even glows in the dark.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rhlrBbYsxd4/TuEp84Oy5sI/AAAAAAAAD8s/kqVuDLqCSb8/s1600/LVRNR+HM+MEDAL+2011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="280" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rhlrBbYsxd4/TuEp84Oy5sI/AAAAAAAAD8s/kqVuDLqCSb8/s320/LVRNR+HM+MEDAL+2011.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: small;">The skyline is actually a sparkly green, but it didn't photograph that way.&nbsp; I didn't know it glowed in the dark medal until someone mentioned it to me once I returned home.&nbsp; Of course I tested the medal for it's glow in the dark capabilities.&nbsp; All the yellow coloring on the medal does glow in the dark, and even though it's a novelty, it's still pretty cool. &nbsp; </span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Besides the race, hubs and I did enjoy a night out.&nbsp; We caught a show, Zumanity, and had a fabulous dinner and drinks on Friday night.&nbsp; Sure, we could easily have a nice dinner out in our hometown, but sometimes a change of pace can do a relationship some good, and being in Las Vegas for some time with hubs was worth the effort of being there.&nbsp; </span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">I'm not sure why, but I have DOMS in both forearms. I'm guessing I was tensing up after the race while trying to keep warm.&nbsp; I dunno.&nbsp; </span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Now it's back to normal and continue training for my next race (my favorite) The Carlsbad Half Marathon in mid January.</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Song from Monday, November 28, 2011</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Monday Morning - No Doubt - <b><a href="http://run-dmz.blogspot.com/">Run-DMZ</a></b></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="color: #93c47d;">PEACE</span> </b></span></span><br /><br /><span style="color: red;">*</span>The 2010 Las Vegas Rock 'n' Roll Marathon/Half Marathon event had 24,403 participants listed as finishers.<br /><br />PS...&nbsp; Any one else having issues with Blogger?&nbsp; I'm having issues with comments and showing my full list of&nbsp; followers.Irenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03163803961338323135noreply@blogger.com10